Phantom Ship
by claihm solais
Summary: COMPLETE! There were many more ships and crews involved in the struggle against the Guild...this is the story of one of them.
1. Chapter One: Storms

**Phantom Ship**

A fanfiction story by

Patrick Nguyen Huu

Chapter One: Storms

            Winds howled as its natural flow was disturbed. Metal shrieked in protest under the strain as the vessel cut through the storm, the steel prow of the vessel cutting through the winds, its hull permeated with numerous holes and burn marks. The ship's gray color blended in with the stormy clouds of the area known as the "Grand Stream", and soon it would be totally hidden from the eyes of ordinary people. The only part of the armor plating that was not painted a dull gray was the its name emblazoned on the side of the ship: CU CHULAINN.

            "Damage report!" a strong voice echoed across the bridge of the ship. "Portside turrets have taken severe damage, cannons four and six are down. Claudia pressure fell, but is constant at 78%. Portside armor plates have sustained heavy damage," a calm reply came. The captain of the CHULAINN allowed himself a slight smile. The thrill of battle had soon become a deadly routine for all of them. "Bring us into sector 2531 and begin to affect repairs. Prioritize the armor plates. Status of the intruders?"

            The second-in-command scanned over the reports. "All intruders have been eliminated. Wipeout of enemy taskforce complete." 

            "Good. Maintain one third speed, engage inaudible drive." The captain, a lean man in his mid-thirties maybe, leaned back in his chair. There was much left to do.

            Deep in the heart of the Grand Stream, the CHULAINN approached a wall of solid rock in a gray, blurred mountain range. As the CHULAINN neared the cliff, a section of it slid aside and revealed a narrow passage leading deep into the mountain. As soon as the CHULAINN passed it, the camouflage slid back into place. The CHULAINN navigated the sharp turns of the passage, finally ending up in a spacious cavern. Her main bow spotlights came on, illuminating a large superstructure of a drydock in front of the ship. Closing in further, the ship slid into the docking array, fitting perfectly in between the support beams of the structure.

            Docking clamps slid into place, securing the vessel to the rock. The crew began disembarging and secondary crew started to move in, hauling crates of ammunition and supplies aboard. Others started inspecting the hull, marking damaged hull plates for later repair.

            There was a knock on the door to the office. "Enter," the CHULAINN's captain called out. The second-in-command stepped through the metal door. A woman of average height with short cropped silvery blonde hair and green eyes, she was about as old as the captain, and they almost looked like siblings. She placed an envelope on his desk. "We just received word that the Guild is looking for Exile. Anatoure seems to have a key piece to the puzzle, and according to our informants, she is being transported to the SILVANNA right now."

            "Any news from Walker?"

            "No, none yet. But the SILVANNA has repeatedly been seen at his dock, so he should have real information pretty soon." The man nodded. "Provided the Guild doesn't blow the SILVANNA out of the sky first." The second-in-command shrugged. "True."

            "Good. Let me know when Walker confirms the SILVANNA has the...person, you said? It's a person?" "Yes. Arvis Hamilton. She's about eight years old." The captain leaned back in his chair. "Hamilton...isn't that one of the Guild Houses?" "Yes. Or rather, was. Remember the Purge?"

            "I do. Okay. Thank you, Caroline. Try and speed up the repairs, we need to be able to fight before the SILVANNA leaves Anatoure with Arvis." "Are you planning to attack the SILVANNA?" The captain laughed. "Fight Alex Rou? No, we won't be doing that. Just make sure that we're ready when we need to be."

            "I will."

            "Thank you. Dismissed."

            Walking along a bridge connecting two carrying beams of the docking array inside the cavern, the CHULAINN's captain placed a hand on her hull. "They're on their way to Exile...soon you'll have fulfilled your duty," he whispered. "She took quite a beating this time, eh?" Whirling around, he found another man – a mechanic, actually – standing behind him. "Yeah, we got into quite a scrape." The second man laughed. "I'd say. It looks like you took on an entire fleet head-on. We'll need to replace the entire portside armor, and two of the Claudia cells. We also need to replace some gun emplacements along the upper hull. Some of them have been turned into a sieve...literally."

            "How long will the repairs take?"

            The mechanic shrugged. "Oh, about two months." The captain arched an eyebrow. "But I think we might be able to cut it down to four, maybe three weeks." Nodding, he glanced back at the ship. "Good. Thanks." He continued to stroll along the bridge when he heard someone running up behind him. "Captain! I have a report for you from one of our recon units!"

            He stopped immediately and turned around. "What is it?" The messenger skidded to a stop right in front of him, panting. "Recon units in...sector...4424 have confirmed...the SILVANNA is here." The captain arched his eyebrows again. What was the SILVANNA doing here, of all the places?

            "Could the units confirm one hundred per cent it was the SILVANNA?" The messenger nodded. "Yes, sir. They saw the ship and got as close as they could without being detected." "What is the SILVANNA doing in the Grand Stream? Alex Rou, what are you up to now..."

            "I don't know, but the recon units say they were recovering a Vanship," the messenger handed over a commission tube to him. "The official report is inside, Captain." Accepting the tube, the other man nodded. "Thank you. You can go back to your duty station." "Yes, sir."

            Taking the report and reading through it, he started to wonder even more. _Why recover a Vanship in the middle of the Grand Stream? And how did the Vanship get there in the first place? He glanced at the coordinates. No...it was too far inside the Grand Stream for a Vanship to have reached under its own power – the winds would have torn it apart before it reached a quarter of the way. _So the SILVANNA launched a Vanship...why?__

            The captain of the CU CHULAINN stood on the elevated platform in the center of the bridge of the ship, watching the workers scuttling about, performing repairs on the now dry-docked CU CHULAINN. "Tom?" He turned around. "Yes?" The woman behind him, Caroline, handed him an envelope. "This just came in via a high-priority courier from Walker's dock. A Vanship Consortium courier has been dispatched to ferry a ten-star cargo to the SILVANNA."

            "That's a pretty high danger rating. When was this?"

            "Maybe a day ago."

            "All right. I just hope the courier makes it to the SILVANNA. If Walker found out, then the Guild probably did, too." He read through the note on the paper inside the envelope: "Norkia Vanship dispatched with 10-star cargo to SILVANNA. It probably is what you are looking for. SILVANNA last known to be in sector 5262 in Anatoure airspace. Regards, Walker."

            "Thanks." He turned and activated the intercom, drawing the attention of all workers. "We just received word that the target is on its way. The Guild is probably going to attack it, but now is our time. If the Guild gains control of the Exile, they will be able to wipe us out. And I do not intend to let the key to Exile fall into their hands."

            "Are you sure about this, Tom? The repairs are far from complete, and we're not fully armed yet." Caroline asked, a concerned look on her face. "Look sis, this is our chance. If Arvis makes it to the SILVANNA, we can be sure to find Exile, but more than that, they're going to use it to blow a trail right to the Guild stronghold in the Grand Stream. And under no circumstances must Exile fall into the hands of the Guild."

            "All right, then, bro. Let's get this show in the road."

            "Take us out of the dock. Release docking clamps, and move, one quarter speed forward." "Release clamps, one quarter forward," the second-in-command echoed the CHULAINN's captain's words. As the CHULAINN navigated the passage in the cliff once again, she glanced at the captain. He seemed calm...as calm as one could be when going into battle with a damaged vessel. But he seemed to show no anxiety at all as the CHULAINN was buffeted by the strong winds of the Grand Stream, her incomplete armor partially nullifying the aerodynamics that let the vessel navigate the area so easily.

            "Set an intercept course for sector 5262, maximum speed." She relayed the order, and went around the stations to check on the bridge crew. As she passed the command podium, she heard him whisper, "Come on, Alex. Be there."

            An operator at the listening post called out, "I have an engine noise! It's slight, but it's there...it almost sounds like a Vanship. They're flying circles around something...I think they just docked." Tom was on his feet immediately. "Set a course for that heading! Engage inaudible drive and scan for more vessels, especially larger ones."

            "Is it the SILVANNA?" Caroline was standing beside him again. "I think so. And if that's the SILVANNA, the Vanship is the courier." Turning to face the rest of the bridge, he bellowed, "Prepare for intercept. Scan for hostiles in the area! If they're here, I want to know before they do."

           Caroline bent down. "Are you sure that the Guild is going to attack? I mean, it's a serious breach of Guild regulations, isn't it?" Tom clenched his teetch as he replied, "They didn't care much about the regulations when they destroyed Mayasa, did they?" She could see the compassion drain out of his face as his eyes hardened as he recalled the incident.

            Alert klaxons blared throughout the ship. Moments later, the guns were up and swiveling, looking for targets of opportunity. Tomaas Riatavin, the CU CHULAINN's master, smiled grimly. His crew knew what they were doing. "Battlestations," he bellowed. He knew he didn't have to give the order, but it was a familiar gesture he had hung on to.

            "Incoming Guild vessels. Four squadrons of star-shaped ships. They are approaching at full speed," the second-in-command reported. "Do we engage?"

            "Where are they headed?"

"From what it looks like, they seem to be headed towards the SILVANNA and the courier." Riatavin nodded. "Yes. Intercept upon contact. Full speed ahead, maintain inaudible drive. Break through the clouds right there. Try to keep them away from the SILVANNA and the courier. Cannons, use spread armor-piercing shells. Angle 15 degrees. Elevation 12000 feet. Fire when ready." Seconds later, the CHULAINN's powerful main cannon turrets opened fire, unleashing a barrage of high-caliber rounds against the oncoming fleet. "Confirmed hits. Four stars down," the observation post noted. "Targets are still incoming."

            "Let them come."

            The star-shaped ships broke formation as the barrage of fire blasted through their ranks. Aligning themselves again, they reoriented and scanned for the next target – the one that had them under fire. As they passed a cloud, one of the pilots noticed a darker cloud before them. Before he could react, the CHULAINN broke through the cloud, coming in straight towards the fighters. Too close for even the swift Guild fighters to avoid, the battleship rammed into the Guild formation, smashing several of the fighters before unleashing another barrage of shells.

            Some of the Guild fighters broke off their attack and dipped into the clouds, realizing this was not their true mission objective. The remainder began swarming around the CHULAINN, raining machinegun fire upon the ship. Most of it glanced off the heavy armor, but those targeting the damaged portside armor plates managed to puncture the hull.

            "Port armor has been penetrated! The armor won't be able to withstand much more! And some of the Guild fighters have broken formation to engage the SILVANNA." The observation post reported. "How many?" 

            "About half the units. They're headed straight for the origin of the Vanship noise." Tom placed his hands on the railing. "Are they within range of the SILVANNA yet?" "No. They'll probably be within their visual range in one minute, twenty seconds." Before Tom could reply, a jolt went through the ship. "Port armor has been breached! We're being boarded! Three confirmed intruders in sections ten and eleven," Caroline relayed.

            "Take them out."

            "Acknowledged." Several of the armed crew on the bridge scurried off, and Tom returned his attention to the attacking Guild fighters. "The Guild units have increased engine output! They are at full cruising speed!" The listening post reported. "They are going for a full-speed assault. If the SILVANNA can hold out twenty minutes, they should be safe. Status of the intruders?"

            "Three have been neutralized. Five more have attached to the hull and are attempting to break through." "There's a Guild unit coming straight on at us!" Tom looked outside the large viewport that made up the front of the bridge. "Close the blast doors." Two large armor plates slid over the glass, shielding it from the fire of the oncoming star-shaped ship. There was a resounding clang as the armor buckled in. "He's trying to get through!" Caroline retrieved a pistol from her holster.

            The glass shattered, and the armor began showing cracks that quickly spread. Wind hissed as the armor gave way and the inside of the bridge lost air pressure. "Everyone, get down!" Tom shouted as a point of a Guild fighter breached through the armor. The ship dragged itself through the thick armor plating onto the bridge. One of the lenses on its belly swivelled, looking for targets of opportunity. It focused on the two people standing on the elevated command platform.

            Tom watched grimly as the Guild fighter focused on them. As soon as he was sure to have its attention, he drew a pair of elongated tubes from the inside of his coat and pressed the firing studs, launching two projectiles at the Guild fighter. The first shot shattered the camera, the second shell buried itself deep in the fighter's gun assembly. He could hear the roar of Caroline's gun as she opened up, and pressed the secondary trigger on one of the rods. The shell hit deep into the core of the fighter and exploded, blowing the fighter against the inside of the viewport armor.

            He reloaded and glanced around. "Anyone hurt?" As the bridge crew slowly got back to their feet and resumed their posts, he heard a collective, "No." "How many Guild units left?"

            "From the engine noise, six," the listening post told him. "Intruders?" "Neutralized." "Good. Open up on the remaining fighters. All cannons, fire at will, then set a course for the SILVANNA." "Acknowledged."

            The cannons on the main deck of the CHULAINN turned, aiming for the remaining Guild ships, and opened fire, launchig clouds of armor piercing shrapnel at the enemy. The last Guild fighters went down from that barrage. "All hostiles destroyed."

            "What about the SILVANNA?"

            "They are damaged, but they are still there. The Guild ships have broken off their attack. Should we rendezvous?" Tom shook his head. "Negative. Break off course. This will give the Guild something to think about. Begin to affect repairs. We will be following the SILVANNA."


	2. Chapter Two: Dreams

Chapter Two: Dreams

He was flying, the clouds streaking past him as he hurled across the sky. He dove, then pulled out of the dive to come up in a looping and ended in a barrel roll. "Yeeehaa!" He let out a cry of joy as he felt the wind tearing at him, and took a deep breath. He felt free. He felt alive.

He turned when he heard noise. Looking below him, he could see a gigantic, star-shaped vessel descending. Then the noise struck again. He identified it this time. Cannon fire. He was low enough that he could hear the screaming below, the explosions. He could see smaller star-shaped fighters breaking their formation and begin strafing runs on a small town. He saw the airfield erupting in fire as the main cannons on the big ship opened up.

Rage built up over the years released and he gripped the control yoke firmly, not caring there weren't any weapons on the Vanship, and pulled the vessel over to head towards the attackers. "Not again, you don't," he whispered to himself. The Vanship didn't move. It didn't follow the course he set. Instead, it kept going in a circle, as if to mock him with a perfect view on the battle raging on. He tried to move the ship on another course again, but it didn't budge. He kept trying to pull over as he watched the people below getting slaughtered. He watched as the few surviving Vanships were shot down mercilessly. "Nooooo!"

And he watched as a family tried desperately climbing into a damaged Vanship and lift off, only to be shot down. He watched as a little boy and girl crawl out from under the wreckage, and he saw a woman standing on the ruined landing field, laughing. His rage turned into despair as he saw the battleship bombarding what remained of the town into nothingness.

Then Tomaas Riatavin woke up.

The CHULAINN kept a discreete distance to the SILVANNA. As the rouge ship docked with Walker's casino-dock, Tom decided to take over a Vanship. As he headed for the small launch bays that were attached to the sides of the CHULAINN, his sister intercepted him. "Where are you going?" He shrugged off the question. "Over to Walker's dock."

            "And why?" Her gaze bore into him. "Simple. I want to talk to Walker. We need to know where they are taking Arvis next." She thumped him in the chest with her index finger. "You forget one thing, mister. You're a dead man. And dead people aren't seen walking around on docks like that." Tom chuckled. "Exactly. No one expects a dead man to walk around. That's why I'm going over there."

            "All right, but I'm coming with you," she declared. He arched an eyebrow at her. "Are you sure? You haven't flown in a Vanship in years." Caroline shrugged. "You were the one who said it's like swimming – you never forget how to do it." Tom gave her a small smile. "You know, after this is over, we could just fly again for the fun of it." Caroline met his eye. "Sounds like fun – only one thing." "Yes?" "Please without anyone trying to shoot us down." She chuckled and headed for the locker rooms to get out the flying gear.

            The small Vanship shot out of the CHULAINN's launch bay, propelled by a steam catapult, and headed for Walker's dock in the distance. As the ship set down in a private landing bay, the station's master greeted them personally. "Tom! It's been a long time since you've been here!" The big man with an eyepatch grinned. "You look quite well for a dead man."

            "Thanks. You don't look that bad, either." "Aye, business is good," Walker faced Caroline. "And you, lass? How've ye been holding up?" She gave him a smile. "Good enough. It's good to see you again, Walker."

            "Let me guess, ye wanted to talk about SILVANNA's next destination, eh?" Walker led them off towards his office. "Yes," Tom told him. "Well, the annual eight-hour Endurance Race is going to be held at the Horizon Cave. That's what I'll tell Alex, too. The Race, though, is only a farce to cover up on an auction deep down in one of the underground caverns of Horizon Cave. They say they will sell what they call the 'Key to Exile'. They claim it's an artifact from Exile. I think they're just bluffin', but it could be worth a shot."

            "When is the race?" Walker stopped. "In twelve days." Tom glanced to his left and shook his head. He must be imagining things. "What is it?" Caroline asked. "Nothing, I just thought I saw something move." Tom froze as he blinked and saw it again – a slight shadow reflecting on the deck.

            "Down!" He pushed both Caroline and Walker to the ground as a shot went off and richocheted off the walls. He rolled to the side and leaned against the wall, Caroline right beside him, and Walker next to her. "So, no one shooting at us, yeah?" He didn't bother to reply and peeked around the corner, then snapped his head back as a round hit the space where his face had been a split second before.

            "Three Guild down the corridor," he whispered. "What are they after?" Tom shrugged. "Us, or maybe Alex - or even you, Walker. I don't know. For now, I just want to stick to 'shoot first, then ask questions'-tactics." April chuckled. "All right." She slid her pistol out of its hidden holster in her coat and flipped the safety. "What do we do?"

            "Simple. Go out, shoot them up. Cover me." Tom kicked off from his crouching position and launched himself into the corridor. As he had suspected, the Guild people were shooting to kill, and he rolled as he hit the ground. As he rolled, he withdrew two sleek tubes from his coat and pressed the firing studs, sending two projectiles into two of them. One doubled over and collapsed while the other seemed hurt but still able to fight. They greeted him with a hail of bullets as he scrambled behind the nearest cover. As the Guild approached his position, he could hear the roar of Caroline's gun as she opened up, and he extended one leg. He heard a curse and a thump, indicating he'd managed to trip at least one of the surviving assassins.

            Tom slid the two tubes together to form a fighting staff, whirled out of his cover and slammed the staff into the nearest opponent. The man doubled over in pain and Tom brought the staff down on his back, then brought it back up to block a swing from the other man. The Guild assassin had produced a sword from his cloak and was swinging it at him. From the corner of his eye he could see Caroline shooting down the corridor, that meant there were more of them. He twirled the staff around, ducked beneath a swing from the assassin and used the staff to sweep his feet from under him.

            Turning back around, he saw another man running down the corridor, twin blades drawn. He lifted the staff horizontally to catch the downward swing and rolled backward, slamming him into the wall. The assassin kicked off and seemed to float in the air, then came back down, blades leading. Tom rolled out of the way. He wasn't quite fast enough and one of the swords cut into his shoulder. Rolling back to his feet, Tom stabbed backwards with his staff, catching a second assassin, then swung it back forward. The assassin locked his blade with the staff and wrenched it out of Tom's grip with a superhuman strength that was inherent to most of the Guild members.

            As he lost his grip on the staff Tom dropped to avoid a slash from the sword, then fell as a sharp pain seared through his back. The man behind him had managed to get up and buried a dagger between his ribs. He'd probably been aiming for his spinal column, but his drop had deflected the blade into his ribs. The assassin in front of him, however, took advantage of his prone situation and raised his sword for a killing blow. Tom looked up and saw the gleaming blade slice down. He knew he couldn't roll to the side to avoid the blow in time. Time stretched as the blade swung down, the dim corridor lights reflecting off it, casting yellowish highlights on the metal walls.

            There was a dull crunching noise, and the Guild assassin collapsed. Walker stood behind him, knife still in hand, and grinned. "Thought you could use a hand." Tom grabbed his staff and hauled himself back up, then watched as Caroline blasted the last assassin out of a jump.   "Walker, you better go and tell Alex about the auction. If their assassins are here, then they'll have a battleship around, too. Can you create a diversion?"

            A roar from one of the casino rooms cut off any answer. Walker grinned. "Shouldn't be too difficult. The GOLIATH is here, that's always trouble." Tom nodded and indicated down the corridor. "We'll go back and see if we can stir up the rest of them." 

            As he jumped back into the Vanship, Caroline noticed a red stain in her brother's flight suit. "Hey, Tom – what's that?" He glanced down at his ribs. "A scratch. I'll have it taken care of back on the CHULAINN." She nodded in concern and climbed into the navigator's seat. The Vanship blasted out of the hangar. She shoved aside her concern even as she watchd him wince as the Vanship accelerated.

            As they approached the CHULAINN, they could see numerous little flares going off around the ship, indicating her guns were firing. "Crap – we're too late! They're already attacking!" Tom swore and gunned the Vanship's engines. Behind him Caroline produced a signal lamp and signalled the battleship. She hastily decoded the reply. "They're keeping them away from the station, but they've closed the launch bays – apparently one of the Guild fighters tried a kamikaze attack on the beta landing bay. It's on fire. Alpha bay is locked down."

            Tom replied by putting the Vanship into a plunge. "Ready the cartridges." She glanced down at the little compartment that housed the ammo cartridges for the small guns that were mounted on the bow of the Vanship. "Ok." She reached down and mounted the cartridge in its slot. "Loaded. You got two hundred shots."

            Her brother nodded and pulled the Vanship out of its dive. One of the Guild fighters ended up right in their sights, and he opened fire, the bullets mostly glancing off the fighter's armor, but several managed to penetrate the plating around the Claudia unit and pilot's compartment. The fighter went ballistic. The other Guild ships began to take note of the newcomer, and turned to face them. Tom juked the Vanship to the left to avoid the incoming fire, then opened up again in a steady salvo, and a second star-shaped fighter burst into flames.

            The rest of them opened fire, greeting them with a hail of bullets. "Well, we certainly have their attention, Tom." Tom could hear the grin in his sister's voice. She might not like flying to fight, but the thrill of flying was still there. Tom's reply was a wild juke of the Vanship. He put the Vanship into a climb and headed straight for the CHULAINN. "Instruct them to fire at us."

            "_What?? Have you gone insane? Fire __at us?" Caroline was livid. He shot her a quick grin over his shoulder. "Right. At us, where we will be in five seconds. But then fire in _seven_ seconds." She copied his grin as she understood his tactics. "You are evil, you know that?" She relayed the message to the CHULAINN. As their Vanship shot through the air, the CHULAINN's main cannons thundered to life, and for a moment Caroline could see the massive shells zooming past them, then explosions bloomed behind them, hiding the Guild fighters from view. The shockwave from the blast caused the Vanship to buckle, and she could see the muscles in her brother's back straining as he fought for control over the vessel. _

Something impacted against the side of the Vanship, and Caroline glanced outside. A large chunk of debris had hit them and buried itself into the hull. From what the damage looked like, it had probably severed some of the wire connections between the steering yoke and the stabilizer fins. It also didn't look as if it was fixable in mid-air. She hoped they were well out of sight of the station, or Walker kept the people inside occupied.

Over the noise of battle she could hear two different engine sounds, then unfamiliar cannons opening fire. Tom kept the Vanship flying in a straight line, and the CHULAINN was mopping up the rest of the Guild fighters and had sent a larger Vanship transport to recover them. For the moment, she enjoyed the vista she had from her position. 

She turned back and looked at the station, two silhouettes casting slight shadows on the white clouds. A signal flare shot up from the station, and a myriad of flares seemed to go off on one end of one of the ships. The other went down in a spectacular display of firepower. She couldn't help but chuckle, and heard her brother snort slightly. "Aye, he's got them occupied good. But did he have to sink a battleship for that?"

Caroline laughed. "You know Alex. He likes to show off."


	3. Chapter Three: Road Into the Light

Chapter Three: Road Into the Light

            Horizon Cave was another strange geographical feature. It seemed like the maw of a huge fish, but descended miles below the surface into a complex network of tunnels and caverns. Some of the turns were deadly to say the least, and that was what the thrill of the eigh-hour Endurance Race was all about. Had there not been the crucial matter of the Exile artifact, Tom would have flown in the race himself. Now the entrance to the cave was littered with trailers and machine shops as the participants prepared their beat-up Vanships for the race.

            Standing on the observation platform of the CU CHULAINN, he stared out into the night. He recalled his mission. They were here to make sure the SILVANNA got the artifact, and not the Guild. No more intelligence reports. No more suspected Guild activities. All they could do was wait. 

            So he waited.

            "My Lord! General Vitellius requests an audience, he wishes to inform you of new intelligence." The messenger knelt before the throne of the Emperor of Anatoure. "Granted. Bring him in." The messenger bowed and left to bring in the officer. The General, an aging man with a voluminous built, entered the throneroom in his sptless white naval uniform and bowed before the Emperor.

           "What did you wish to inform me of?" The old man on the throne spoke.The General stood straight again. "My Lord, my informants have revealed the location of the rouge ship." The Emperor stared at him. "The SILVANNA?"

            Vitellius shook his head violently. "No, Sire, not SILVANNA. The mysterious Phantom Ship."

            The Emperor kept up his stare. "That mystery ship that is supposed to fight a war with the Guild? It's a legend! It's not even real – nobody has ever seen it. And you dare waste my time with this...this...nonsense?"

            The General knelt. "With all due respect, if my informants are correct, and this is indeed the 'Phantom Ship', then it would serve us well to investigate, and, for sake of our relations with the Guild, destroy it."

            Sighing, the Emperor nodded. "You have my authorization to dispatch three ships, not more, to find this...this myth. If it truly exists, they should be enough to capture or destroy it." Vitellius nodded and bowed, then left the audience chamber.

            Holland van Karmen shifted nervously on his feet as he stood in a dark corner of the Vanship hanger in the Horizon Cave's entrance. Crewmembers of the CU CHULAINN weren't supposed to go to ground, and if someone discovered he was missing...

            He straightened as he heard footsteps approaching, prepared to either jump the arrival or to make a run for it. Then, a voice whispered, "Acceleration booster."

            Holland moved out of the shadows and whispered back, "Stabilizer wing." That were the codewords he had been instructed to use. When his contact moved to stand in front of him, he nearly flinched at the other man's height. Nearly a foot taller than he was, and shrouded in a black cloak, the military informant he was meeting with was an impressive sight – and probably well armed beneath the cloak.

            "Do you have the information?"

            Holland nodded. "The CHULAINN is at two-one-six ecliptic now. They're circling Horizon Cave right now. If you want that ship, now is a good moment for a surprise attack. They are prepared to attack, but now most of the personnel is sleeping, and the ship's still damaged from the last engagement."

            "Do you have the information we asked for?"

            Holland nodded and pulled several folded sheets of paper from his greasy mechanics coverall. He handed the first page to the informant. "This is the information of weapon specifications you asked for," he looked through the papers. "Here is the specifications on the..."

            "Hey, you! What are you doing here?" A voice echoed down the hangar. "Crap. I'm outta here!" Holland murmured and shot out from behind the crates for the nearest Vanship. The informant was close on his heels. "Hey! Stop! What are you doing?" The mechanic who'd stumbled into them ran after them.

            The informant reached into his cloak and withdrew a small handgun, aimed, and fired. The mechanic flew back the way he'd come. Holland heard the shot and scream behind him, but didn't turn. He froze for a second, though. He'd never expected the informant would actually _kill _someone. Now he was in deep trouble. He kept running.

            "You! Come back here!" He informant was furious and set off after Holland. As the other man ignored his warnings, he aimed and fired.

            Holland heard the shot, and felt the impact of the bulled in his shoulder. He was knocked forward, stumbled, and fell, clutching the wound. The informant stood over him. "You will relinquish the information."

            "You killed that man."

            "He was interfering." Holland didn't especially like the cold tone of the informant.

            "Go to hell. What are you going to use it for?"

            "That is none of your concern."

            "You'll hunt the CHULAINN, won't you – and destroy it, if possible."

            "Hand over the information."

            "Or what? You'll kill me?"

            "Give me the information." The informant levelled the gun at Holland.

            "Go to hell," the mechanic spat. The informant squeezed the trigger.

            Hearing footsteps rushing up behind him, the informant dropped the gun next to Holland and searched the body for the papers he was looking for. As he heard voices in the hangar space behind him, he abandoned the dead mechanic and ran.

            "Tom, we have a problem."

            "What is it?" The captain of the CHULAINN turned his chair around to face his sister. "Holland's dead." She said. "What?"

            "Holland's dead. He was found shot two days ago in one of the hangars of Horizon Caves. The gun he was shot with was found next to him. Apparently, there is another dead mechanic down there. There was quite a commotion."

            Tom slammed his fist on the desk. "Damn! Why was he down there in the first place? How did he get down?" Caroline glanced at him. Her brother was boiling with fury inside. "He slipped past the guards and stole a Vanship. He cold-started it, so no one noticed."

            Tom closed his eyes. "Anything else?"

            "The gun found next to him is a special gun. Small, concealable. It's a standard design for intelligence operatives. _Anatoure_ intelligence operatives. And this was found in one of the pockets of his coverall." She placed a folded piece of paper on the desk, knowing full well what it meant for them. She closed her eyes, waiting for his reaction.

            Tom picked up the paper, and slowly unfolded it. It was a basic schematic of the CHULAINN, including armor and weapon stats. He crumpled it in his hand, then stood. Caroline nearly gulped as she saw the expression in his eyes. He stormed past her to the bridge. "Helm, come about! Move us on a new course! Bearing one-one-eight mark seven! Take us to an elevation of seventeen thousand feet! Move! All hands, prepare for battlestations! Sound the combat readiness alert!"

            Caroline was only a step behind him. "They found us," she said. Her brother nodded. "Anatoure wants to take us out, as well." "That's not for sure." He gave her a dry laugh. "Then why collect tactical data on us?" She had to admit he was right. And she prayed they wouldn't have to fire on their old comrades-in-arms.

            The CU CHULAINN navigated away from the position it had held around the Horizon Cave, and vectored away silently. The tension on the ship was so thick that Caroline sweared she could cut it with a saw. The crew was ready for a fight, but most of the people were unsure about what to do. She couldn't fault them. She herself wasn't sure whether she would be able to fire on her own people.

            Though the revelation of the traitor had been a serious blow to their effort to guard the SILVANNA's mission, Tom had seemed determined not to let it stop them. They waited in silence, waiting once again. Waiting for the inevitable sign of battleships chasing them. He'd been adamant that the supreme commander of Anatoure's forces would devote as many forces as he could muster to bring them down. Caroline didn't doubt him. From what she had heard about General Vittelius from her brother and other people, the General seemed very old-fashioned, and extremely intolerant about vessels outside of his chain of command.

            The bridge was silent until the listening post called out, "Incoming engine noise! We've got a Vanship incoming!" Tom rose and stared out the viewport. He could barely make out a tiny black dot moving against the white clouds. "Are they signalling?" "Negative. Wait – they are. They say, 'Courier from Walker's Dock. Have urgent message for captain of the CHULAINN. Code is _ravine. Request permission to land.'"_

            Tom nodded. "Granted. Direct him to Alpha Bay. How are the repairs on Beta Bay going?" Caroline relayed the orders, then turned back to him. "Quite well. We'll have it operational in about a day. There wasn't any major structural damage, it was just mostly the debris that was giving us trouble."

            Her brother nodded in acknowledgement and beckoned her to follow him. "Come on, we'll welcome our guest aboard."

            The pilot climbed out of the Vanship and dropped to the ground just as the twins stepped from the corridor into the landing bay. Tom nodded his greetings, and gaped as the pilot took off her helmet and shook out her long, flaming red hair. "What are _you_ doing here?" Caroline mirrored his expression as both recognized the woman before them.

            The pilot straightened and let go a warm laugh. "Tom Riatavin. It's good to see you again. Last time I leave you alone, you fight off a Deusis battlegroup all on your own, and when I meet you again, you're waging your private war against the Guild. I have to admit, you did a great job." She grinned. "They're telling stories of the 'Phantom Ship' and your war with the Guild. Your battle record is already legendary, and the people made something of a mythical protector of you. You don't know how many people have rallied behind you for saving them from the Guild's indifference and arrogance."

            Tom remembered to close his jaw, and smiled. "Sakakibaha Shiho. I'd never have expected to see you here. I thought you were still a flight instructor at the Academy." Shiho shook her head. "Nope. They closed down the flight department a couple of years ago. Kicked me and lots of other good pilots out."

            "I'm sorry to hear that. Come along, I'll have a cabin ready for you." As the three of them retreated down the corridor that lead into the bowels of the ship, Caroline glanced at the other woman. "So, how did you end up as a courier to the CHULAINN? It's quite dangerous to fly courier to us."

            The red-haired pilot laughed. "After I left the Academy, I applied at the Vanship Consortium. They didn't take me, so I kept wandering around, living off the occasional job. Eventually, I ended up at Walker's Dock, and he said he was looking for good, reliable pilots for dangerous flights. And you know me – I like the thrill of it. So I told him, I'm game. And here I am."

            Tom laughed. "Yeah, Walker always says that if a ten-star rating is the highest the Consortium gives, flying to the CHULAINN would be an eleven-star, at the very least." "Yup, that sounds like him, all right. Although it didn't seem to be dangerous to fly to you. You're not particularly hard to find, you know."

            Shiho knew she had hit a nerve, because Tom and Caroline seemed to sober up a little. "Yeah, we've had some trouble with keeping our movements hidden from the military," Tom said simply. 

            Shiho nodded. "There are rumors that the Emperor has dispatched a group of warships to deal with you. And to deal with Alex and the SILVANNA." She stopped and looked at Tom. "Whatever happens, I hope you're not going to sink Anatoure ships. They're good men and women just doing their jobs."

            Tom replied, "I know. And I hope it doesn't come down to that."


	4. Interlude One: Past Transgressions

Interlude One: Past Transgressions

           Fire rained from the sky. In ancient mythology, this would have been the sign of the wrath of the gods. This, however, was merely a slaughter. Stars were descending from the night sky, streaks of fire leaping from them causing havoc wherever they struck.

            Children ran through the streets, their parents trying to cover them from the debris that once had been their homes. Pilots were trying to reach their Vanships in a futile attempt to fight off the relentless enemy. Those few that made it into the sky were shot down quickly. 

            A barrage of fire struck an elegant house that probably housed one of the nobler people of the town, the blasts crumbling the walls and collapsing the roof. Four people managed to survive the destruction of what had been their home. Two adults and a little boy and girl of about 5 ran from the remains of their home and towards the airfield.

            "What is this?" The man shouted into the air. "Why is the Guild attacking us?"  A bright explosion lit the sky. Another Vanship down. "We need to warn the Emperor of this!" As the four people tried to cram into a Vanship made for two, the dark cloudy skies opened, and it began to rain...rose petals.

            "Father...why are roses falling?" the boy asked. Gritting his teeth and rushing through the pre-flight checklist, the man was silent. "We need to hurry." Star-shaped ships were starting to set down all over the place, searching for survivors of any kind of the aerial barrage.

            The engine started to whine, and the Vanship lifted off the ground. The man started pulling on the steering yoke to pull it up into the air when a Guild fighter came down, bringing one of its claw-like appendages down on the Vanship's bow, nailing it to the ground. It turned, its eye-like lens focusing on the four people in the vessel. A compartment slid open.

            "Jump!"

            The woman leaped out of the navigator's seat, clutching the girl in her lap as she crouched behind the Vanship. The man did the same on the other side, only he brought out a small handgun and started shooting the Guild ship. Surprisingly, the small caliber round penetrated the armor and the ship crumbled without its pilot's control.

            Climbing back into the Vanship, the man noticed one of the gauges had dropped. "Claudia pressure is down! This thing will never fly again! Get to another ship, hurry!" Then the sky lit up, and the tip of something could be seen descending from above.

            It was the silhouette of a Guild battleship. It began spewing out more of the star-shaped fighters. Some of them began concentrating on the airfield. Without warning, they opened fire.

            The Vanship closest to them crumbled under the steady fire of the Guild fighters. Then another Vanship exploded, and another. Then, they were alone in the middle of the airfield, surrounded by Guild fighters. A red star-ship set down before their damages Vanship, and a young Guild woman climbed out, the flowing robes closing around her body in a protective cocoon.

            "Run, little men, run as fast as you can," she said. And laughed. 

            She was still laughing as she gave the order to fire and kill every remaining person in the town.

            A Vanship engine roared, over the fire of the Guild's weapons. A lone Vanship sped across the airfield, slamming into the red star-ship, and continuing onwards for a moment before it was taken out by a blast from above.

            A boy, age 5, crawled out from under the debris of the downed Vanship. He turned around and saw his little sister trying to climb out. Trying to help her, he started pulling off pieces of metal out of her way. That was when he saw their parents. Both had not survived the crash, and over all the chaos and destruction, he could still hear the woman's mad laughter. Her face would be forever burned into his memory. He started to cry, and he didn't hear the main cannons on the Guild battleship coming to bear down on what remained of the Mayasa Village.

             "Today, you, the finest of our nation, have assembled here in order to be initiated in the honors of the Imperial Officer Academy of Anatoure. You will be the spearhead of our nation. You will be its pride and protection. When the time comes, you will be the ones who will carry our nation's pride and honor out into the field and uphold it. You are the next generation of Anatoure's military, and I welcome you!"

            The assembled crowd cheered. Among them were a young man and woman, by all appeareance siblings. The man turned to face his companion and grinned. "This is it, sis. We made it!"

            The Vanship pulled out of the loop, its belly barely scraping along the side of their Vanship, missing them by mere inches. The man at the controls swore and pulled over, turning his planned barrel roll into an inverted Immelman turn. "Calm down, Tom. Move to 2 o'clock, 12 degrees elevation. Focus on the target." His navi told him.

            "Got it. Distance to target?"

            "1000 feet. Cartridge loaded."

            He aligned the crosshairs mounted on the windshield of the Vanship with the target and hit the firing stud, sending streaks of gunfire towards it. Pulling the Vanship out of the dive, he glanced over his shoulder. "Confirmed hit!" His navi told him. "Tom, bring her down."

            He nodded and lowered the Vanship down. Just across from them another pilot set down his own vessel. Tom recognized the silvery-white color of it. "Hey, isn't that the guy who nearly rammed us?" A lean pilot, whom Tom estimated to be about 18, with jet-black hair climbed out of the Vanship, followed by a beautiful young woman of about the same age. The pilot walked over.

            "Good reflexes. That was an impressive variation on the Immelman turn," he noted. Tom arched an eyebrow. "You almost flew into us on _purpose? Are you trying to get yourself killed?" The other man laughed. "I could ask you the same question. Flying an armed Vanship into a combat zone is not exactly a walk in the park."_

            Tom allowed himself a small smile. "Maybe you're right. I'm Tom Riatavin, this is my sister Caroline." The woman nodded and extended her hand, which the other pilot took. "I'm his navi."

            "My name is Alex Rou. My navigator here," Tom could see a spark in the other man's eyes as he spoke, "is Eurys." Tom glanced at her. "Nice to meet you." 

            "Are you at the Academy as well?" Caroline asked.

            "Yes," Rou nodded. "Although we're also working for the Vanship Consortium back in Norkia." Tom grinned. "A carrier, eh? No wonder you fly the way you do."

            "You are not a Vanship pilot yourself, then?" Eurys inquired. "No," Caroline answered. "It's more like a hobby. We are here for the full military training." Tom interrupted her, "Only because you think flying Vanships is suicide." 

            "That's because it is!"

            "Oh, and standing on the bridge of a battleship that is being shot at with even more high-caliber guns is not?" Tom looked up at Alex, who'd fired off the reply. He was grinning. 

            "Move VALIUS to sector D-3. Have it intercept enemy reinforcements coming from the east." "Understood. VALIUS moving to engage targets coming from the east." "Hostiles sighted on a course, north-east of current position of VALIUS." Voices echoed through the war room.

            The center planning table was cluttered with models of airships and tactical data. Tom regarded the situation for a moment. "Move the ALLASTOR to sector H-4. Prepare to exchange long-range artillery fire. Target distance 65000 feet. Elevation 12 degrees from x-y, 19 degrees starboard." On the planning table, an aide moved the model corresponding to the ALLASTOR to the designated square. "We are outnumbered."

            "But not outgunned," Caroline added. She reached forward and moved two ships in to cover the east flank of her own fleet. "We just have to figure out how to get past their ships."

            Tom took a half-step back and considered the move his sister had made. It put him in a very difficult situation. "ALLASTOR, open fire. Bring in DIARMID and BASTION to reinforce her position." Someone bumped into Tom and stumbled. Reaching out, he caught the person before she could hit the floor. "Are you all right?"

            She nodded. "Yes, thank you very much." Tom turned to look at her. She wore the black uniform of one of the aides, the silver dot on her uniform's shoulders indicating she had the rank of a bridge aide. Her long brown hair was tied back in a ponytail, and she was carrying a tray with notes. Tom helped her back up. "Are you looking for someone?"

            "Yes, I'm looking for the commander of the ALLASTOR, I have a message for him."

            "That's me." She handed him a slip of paper. Unfolding it, Tom quickly scanned it, took out a pen, and scribbled a quick reply. "Please take this to the commander of the CORIOLANA."

            She nodded and went back into the masses of people crowded into the small room. Tom turned back to the tactical board and looked over the new tactical situation. Two ships had been lost, but it seemed as if his message had gotten through. The CORIALANA was moving outwards, a host of smaller vessels following the massive battleship, and angled in from behind and above the hostile fleet. "ALLASTOR, DIARMID, open fire. CORIALANA, open fire. BASTION, hold back and look for stragglers." He shot his sister a quick grin. "You're out, sis."

            The fire from two sides quickly decimating her fleet, Caroline sighed in defeat. "Okay, but I want a rematch." Her brother chuckled. "Sure. So, what's the score right now?"

            Caroline looked at the scoreboard. "Three to five, your favor."

            "Good thing this is only a simulation. I don't know how many battleships we've trashed till now, but it sure is a lot."

            She grinned evilly. Tom gulped. This was usually meant his sister was up to something. Something that usually ended in nothing good for him. "What?"

            "So, who was that lass you were flirting with?"

            "Huh? What are you talking about? What lass..." He thought back. "Oh! She ran into me, I just caught her."

            "Then what were you talking about with her?" Caroline was smirking as she walked around the table.

            "She had a message for me."

            "That's all?" She seemed a little bit disappointed.

            "That's all."

            Tom stood on one of the numerous balconies of the Imperial Officer Academy. He enjoyed the view from up here; one could almost see to the edge of the world, it seemed. It was almost like soaring above the clouds. He missed flying. But nowadays piloting a Vanship was becoming increasingly dangerous and less reputable, so he remained at the Academy for his sister's sake.

            "It is almost as if you're touching the sky, ne?" A female voice asked from behind him. Tom turned around to face the unexpected visitor. "Or as if you're flying," she concluded, moving out onto the platform.

            "Have we met before?" Tom studied her features for a moment. They seemed familiar. She had long brown hair, now tied up in ponytails pinned up around her temples. Her blue eyes matched the color of the sky, and her demeanor and sharp, angular cheekbones betrayed a certain elegance that could only come with noble heritage. Suddenly, a flash of recognition hit him. "I remember, we met in the simulation the other day, right?"

            The woman smiled as she nodded. "Yes." She stood beside him on the balcony, gazing out into the sky for a moment. "I'm sorry, I never caught your name," Tom finally said. She turned and looked at him, seemingly studying him. "Sophia," she replied. "Sophia Forrester."

            "Tom Riatavin," Tom offered and shook her hand. "So, Sophia-san, what brings you here?" He asked as they both returned to watching the stars. "You're the first person to come here since I started at the Academy." "I like watching the stars. It reminds me of the dreams I had as a child." She smiled at the reminiscence. "What brings you here?"

            "The same thing, I suppose. I used to want to fly," Tom gave her a humourless chuckle. "I used to want to fly up to the stars and touch them."

            She arched an eyebrow. "Not anymore?"

            "Oh, yes, I still do. But...have you ever had something good happen to you, only to have your world come crashing down on you?" Tom sighed. "No." She glanced at him. "Did it happen to you?"

            Tom remained silent as she cast an inquisitive look at him. "I'm sorry...I shouldn't have asked." Sophia turned and started to walk away from the balcony, when his hand came up and gently caught her by her upper arm. "It's all right. It was a long time ago. I had hoped to forget it, but things like this...you cannot forget."

            Sophia studied him for a moment. "Then maybe it is not meant to be forgotten. You tend to remember the bad memeories...but do you also recall the good ones? Things like this cannot be forgotten easily, sometimes even not at all. All we can do is turn them into the best we can."

            A slight smile began to spread across Tom's face. He gave her a curious look. "You know, you entirely missed your dream job. You should have become a psychologist."

            The grin on her face matched his. "Ah, well, but the important thing is, do you feel better?" His gaze returned to the sky. Taking a deep breath, he gave them one last, longing, look and turned around. "Maybe. I'll see you at the simulation in two days."

            "Why in two days? There is one tomorrow."

            Tom smiled. "I'll be working on my Vanship tomorrow."

            Tom pushed out from under the Vanhsip and wiped his greasy hands on a rag as he regarded the modifications he had made on the vessel. "I wonder how well she'll fly..." He muttered to himself.

            "Why don't we go and find out?" Tom whirled around and grinned. "You're welcome to try her out, Alex. I don't think my sister would like to fly with me, so you go ahead." Tom indicated towards the Vanship. Alex nodded and strolled around the ship to inspect it while Eurys climbed up into the navigator's seat and ran a systems check. When he was satisfied, Alex leapt up into the pilot's seat and tested the controls. "Looks good. You're right, maybe we should try her out."

            Chuckling, Tom put the tools back into order and headed over to open the doors of the hangar. "Be my guest." Bright sunlight flooded into the hangar through the large double doors."You're not going to fly? It'd be fun!" Eurys leaned over the edge of the frame. "No, not today. I don't have a navi."

            "Your choice," she shrugged and concentrated back on the readings. The Vanship powered up, the Claudia beginning to circulate in the tubes at the back of the vessel. The high-pitched whine soon turned into a steady, low humming as the Vanship accelerated out the hangar and lifted off the ground propelled by its Claudia Unit.

           Tom stared after the Vanship as it took off into the sky, soon becoming a mere spot against the afternoon sun. "Yeah, it would have been fun."

            The small model made a slight scraping noise as it slid across the worn wooden table. "Bam. You're down." Caroline glanced across the table at her brother. "What's up with you today? I haven't seen you this distracted in a long time. You've lost what, five times in a row now?" Her glance turned concerned. "What's wrong? C'mon, tell me bro."

            Tom sighed and stood up. "I'm sorry, I'm a little tired today."

            "Something's on your mind, huh? I know that look. You're not tired, you're thinking of something. What is it?" She grinned. "Is it...a girl?"

            Tom gave her a weak smile. "Close. It's a 'she', all right. But she flies."

            "Our Vanship?"

            "Yes. I was thinking of de-dusting it." Tom leaned backwards. "You know, we used to enjoy flying. We used to love it up there," he said, pointing a thumb upwards in the direction of the ceiling. "Maybe...I was thinking, maybe we could fly again sometime, if you want to."

            She sighed. "I know what you mean. I miss it, too. But...you don't need me to fly. Just look for a navi, I'm sure there are plenty out there." Tom nodded. "Yeah, but it wouldn't be the same as flying with my sister." That got a little smile from her. "So, who got you back to the flying track? Alex and Eurys?"

            Tom nodded. "Yeah. Remember that first time we met them?"

            "You mean when they nearly flew into us?" Caroline grinned. "How could I forget. When you saw them land, you nearly looked ready to throttle Alex." Tom chuckled. "If I recall it correctly, you weren't too pleased, either."

            She giggled as she recalled the incident. "Yeah, they made quite an impression, huh? How are they, anyway?" Tom smiled slightly. "They're well. Alex actually decided to join the Academy, and Eurys is, too." 

            Caroline leaned forward and propped her head in her hands. "So, what made you think of flying again?" Tom closed his eyes and smiled. "A little chat about the past. Besides," he indicated the battlefield set up on the table. "You lost." He moved a model. "Caught in the crossfire." With that he stood up and left the table. "Good night."


	5. Chapter Four: Rays of Hope

Chapter Four: Rays of Hope

             The courier sped towards the CU CHULAINN at breakneck speed. Almost before the navigator had fully replied to the permission to dock, the Vanship ran into the hangar of the battleship, slamming into the ground at full force, nearly smashing the fragile craft. It skidded to a halt close to the doors that lead to the rest of the ship, and the pilot jumped out, clutching a commission tube.

            Caroline stood in the door, blocking the courier pilot's way. "Where is the message?" The pilot shook his head. "I have strict orders to hand it only to te commander of the CHULAINN." Caroline beckoned the man, and they rushed off towards the bridge. When the courier had signalled, it had seemed very urgent, and the pilot's haste now seemed to confirm it.

            She stepped beside her brother at the front viewport and indicated the pilot to move there, too. Tom turned around. "What is it, Caroline?"

            "The courier who signalled us is here."

            "Already? That's a pretty fast touchdown," Tom mused, grinning slightly. "Why the haste, pilot?"

            "I have an urgent message from the Den for you, it's vital."

            "Let me see," he accepted the commission tube from the pilot and broke the seal. Extracting a rolled-up piece of parchment, he unrolled it and skimmed over the lines. Caroline watched as her brother's eyes sparkled. He crumbled the parchment and ripped it to shreds. "Pilot, return to the Den, and tell the base commander that we received the message. Tell him to prepare for a complete overhaul, and to get enough material and ammunitions to stock up for an extended period of time." The pilot nodded and saluted, then left.

            "Set a course for the Den. Full speed ahead, forget about inaudoble drive. We're going home," Tom announced. When she had relayed his orders, Caroline turned to him again. "Why?"

            Tom grinned mischievously. "The BATTLEMASTER is nearing completion."

            The CU CHULAINN moved through the clouds swiftly, like a silent predator gliding through the skies. As it approached its base in the Grand Stream, the ship and its crew gaped at the sight. What they had come home to was not a home, or a safe base. It was a city under siege. Guild fighters were dancing around the mountain, pouring machine gun fire into the flanks of solid rock.

           There was no trace of the battleship that must have dumped the fighters, that meant they had come here on their own. But their numbers suggested they were a full battlegroup, designated to take out a military task force. Tom grimaced slightly. The Guild had found them. At least they perceived them as a great enough threat that they dispatched an entire battleforce to deal with the undefended base only.

            The base, however, was anything but undefended. Even while the CHULAINN was approaching, camouflage panels slid aside, and anti-aircraft guns began to return fire, raking fire across the formation of star-shaped fighters. They were putting up a fight.

            "Ahead full! All hands to battlestations! Prepare for boarding parties! Bow guns, elevation thirteen degrees z, plus eighteen x-y. Aim and fire at will. All other turrets, open fire at will!" Tom bellowed as the CHULAINN accelerated to combat speed and raced headfirst into the engagement.

            The base was battered and bruised from their brush with the Guild forces, but they had held their own well. Tom surveyed the damage done to the dock as the CHULAINN moved into anchor position. There were several fallen support beams, and some of the command and observation structures were on fire. Nothing that couldn't be fixed.

            What _couldn't_ be fixed, on the other hand, was the fact that the Guild had finally tracked them down to their base of operations. That was not good. They'd have to abandon the base before they brought in reinforcements to finish the job. With a slight rumble the CHULAINN made contact with the dock's tethers and came to a rest.

            Tom glanced out towards the side and noticed the battleship at their side. It was entirely black, designed for stealth operations, especially at night. The only part of the hull that wasn't painted a dull black were the letters on the bow that read BATTLEMASTER. He watched as the repair and resupply crews rushed on board to patch up the ship for her next engagement.

            "What is the status on the BATTLEMASTER?" Tom asked the dock chief. The elderly man who had been part of his original crew let his glance wander over the black hull of the battleship for a moment before returning it to Tom. "Well, she's practically ready to go, but she hasn't had her maiden voyage yet, and we've had no chance to test out that 'extra equipment' you had us install. She should be running fine, though."

            "Is she battle worthy?"

            "Well, as I said, she's ready to go. The only problems could be with either of two things. Either, we screwed up when we pieced together the Claudia Unit, or the new equipment in the bow blows. But I don't think we crewed up on either of those, so we should be fine," the chief replied.

            "All right then. Resupply both ships with everything this base can spare. And tell the men to hurry up with the repairs. When the Guild comes, I want to be ready." The chief nodded in acknowledgement, and Tom turned and left.

            "Recon units in sector 112 report contact with a Guild battleship. They're headed straight this way," Caroline reported. Tom nodded. "All right. If they're in sector 112...they're moving faster than I thought. We have ten hours, at most. All right. Get the people moving," he glanced at the BATTLEMASTER. "You better get aboard your ship, too."

            "Won't you need a second-in-command?"

            He shot his sister a grin. "I can handle it if you can," he told her.

            "You got it." Caroline turned and left for the BATTLEMASTER's berth.

            "Incoming Guild battleship! One thousand yards and closing! Nine hundred yards!" The observation post reported. Tom stole a glance around the now cavernously empty base. "Everyone report to their ships. We're abandoning the base. I repeat, all hands aboard their ships."

            "Guild battleship at 500 yards!"

            Tom stood up from his command chair. "Detach docking clamps. Ahead one quarter. Prepare for full engine output on my mark!"

            "300 yards, and closing in!"

            "Ready all bow guns!"

            "200 yards!"

            The ship began to rumble beneath his feet, and Tom could feel the power output of the Claudia drive units increase as the CHULAINN awoke from her short slumber. "Wait for it...wait for it..."

            "One hundred yards!"

            "Vanships, form a fighter screen behind the ships, and prepare to fan out to provide flanking support as soon as we leave the ravine! Do not engage in combat with the Guild fighters!"

            "Fifty yards!"

            "Mark! Ahead full! All weapons, fire at will!"

            The CU CHULAINN and the BATTLEMASTER blasted out of the cover of the mountain ravine into the open stormy air of the Grand Stream, weapons blazing. The Guild battleship that had practically been parked outside withered under the barrage and remained floating in the air, stunned for a moment from the brutal onslaught.

            When the battleship recovered, its guns began to swivel to track the two gunships that were blasting at it at their respective top speeds, failing to gat a target lock in time. BATTLEMASTER angled slightly, so that instead of just passing by the gigantic ship, the bow of the midnight-black ship was aimed straight at the heart of the Guild battleship.

            The black gunship's sharpened prow made contact with the battleship's hull violently, tearing through metal hull and support beams like paper. As the CHULAINN blasted past the Guild ship, the BATTLEMASTER emerged from the other side, her flanks slightly scarred but otherwise unscathed.

            Caroline grimaced as the BATTLEMASTER shook from the impact with the Guild ship. She hoped their calculations were correct and they had built up enough momentum to tear right through the battlecruiser. All around her the hulls of her ship were screeching in protest under the strain as they broke into the Guild vessel.

            When BATTLEMASTER's bow finally tore through the last layer of metal and emerged on the other side, she let out a breath she wasn't aware she'd been holding. 

            "The Guild ship is sinking!" The observation post shouted.

            Caroline turned to look, and she realized the report was correct. The Guild battleship's Claudia drive was definitely failing. "Stern guns, open up at will," she ordered as a grin spread over her face.

            "All rear cannons, fire at will!" Tom shouted as he watched the shells tear through the Guild battleship's hull, marking the once-unblemished hull with pockmarks and craters. _Take that,_ he thought. He kept his gaze on the sinking battleship until it smashed against the ground and shattered into a head of debris.

            _Eat that, Delphine. And that's just the beginning. He smiled inwardly. Now, the real war with the Guild had begun._

            "Signal from the BATTLEMASTER! They say, 'Nice job. Where to now?'"

            Tom smiled. "Signal them to follow us to Minagis. It's time we confirmed the legends of the 'Phantom Ship'. And we'll need some help in doing so."

           "BATTLEMASTER acknowledges. They're saying, 'The Guild better look out.'" Tom chuckled. "Look out, indeed. Here we come." Whatever the Guild threw at them, they would be facing twice the punishment now. They would survive. "Oh, and tell my sister, when this is over, I'm going to buy a round for everyone," Tom added, grinning lopsidedly. His hope in their victory was starting to stir again.


	6. Chapter Five: Ceremonial Play

Chapter Five: Ceremonious Play

            Tom read through the report. The SILVANNA was moving into the Dragon's Tooth. He had bad memories of the place. He'd lost his first ship there. However, he trusted Alex's judgement, and decided to take the risk. Before he could reach the bridge, an explosion shook the CHULAINN, tossing him against the far wall of his cabin.

             Caroline pried open the door to her brother's cabin, and stood in shock for a moment, before running into the small space. "Tom!" He was slumped on the ground, obviously having been knocked out as he hit the cabin walls. "Tom, wake up!" When he didn't stir, she propped him up and found his hair slightly damp with a crimson fluid. She swore and rushed out of the room towards the bridge. She didn't like the idea of having to leave her brother, but if whatever had shot them fired again, they'd be in even deeper trouble.

            She considered returning to her own ship for a moment, but then dismissed the idea. Their attackers were already within firing range, and launching a Vanship transport would not only put the transport at risk, but would also endanger the ships she was launching from and landing on. When she reached the bridge it had already gone to full combat alert, and the crew was calculating fiuring solutions for the turrets.

            A quick glance out of the viewport told her they were facing at least two ships. She listened to the orders issued for a moment, then decided to go with what had already been said. "All hands, secure the decks!  Move us into position of fire a broadside at the enemy, and tell BATTLEMASTER to cover our port flank! As soon as they're within firing range, open fire!"

            The observation post called out, "They're Anatoure ships!"

            Caroline forze for a second. Anatoure ships? Here? For the third time, she swore. _The idiot Vitellius set them on us. That bastard!_ She swallowed her anger. "What shall we do?" One of the officers asked her. She just glanced at him helplessly.

            A small plume of smoke began billowing out of the nearest battleship, and a barrage of shells headed straight for them. Caroline gaped. They were really firing at them. She couldn't believe it. The shells struck and tossed the majority of the command crew to the ground. Sparks began flying, and the hull shrieked in protest.

            _That's it. They asked for it. Caroline lifted herself off the ground. "All guns, open fire! Target their gun emplacements and engines, if possible –" She gripped the railing of the command platform tighter as the ship shuddered under another barrage. "Scrap that. Just give 'em hell!"_

            The CHULAINN's guns roared to life, and soon the Anatoure battleships' sides were pcokmarked with impact craters. One of the ships pulled back. "Cease fire on the ship to port! Concentrate all fire on the other cruiser!" Caroline grimaced. She didn't like shooting at Anatoure ships, but if they had been sent by Vitellius, and were firing without warning, she doubted they'd listen to reason.

            "Thrid hostile incoming from the rear! Minus twelve degrees elevation, at fifteen degrees from the x-y!" The observation post reported. "Crap. Tell BATTLEMASTER to level off and engage them! Turn us around so that we face them, and prepare a broadside!"

            As th CHULAINN swung around, the new enemy ship came into view. _Now they're "enemies", huh? Great job, Caroline, she mused. She strained to make out the new threat through the clouds. "I'm not picking up any engine noise!"_

            "That means they're in inaudible drive – their engines are not under Guild control," she realized. The vessel they were facing was an elongated fuselage that sprouted two downward sloping wings. Upon closer inspection, they were revealed to be chainsaws. "Manouver hard to port!" Caroline shouted as the Urbanus-class vessel accelerated in their direction, seemingly intent on ramming them.

            The CHULAINN banked hard to port, allowing the pther vessel to pass by. By then, Caroline had realized her mistake, but it was already too late. The giant chainsaws that were attached to the side of the URBANUS-class vessel made contact with the CHULAINN's hull and a low rumble went through the ship. It quickly turned into the shriek of metal as the chainsaw started to penetrate the armor plating.

            "All starboard cannons, open fire! Use high-explosive shells!" She shouted, seeing a possible way out. The CHULAINN's side-mounted turrets opened up, firing their deadly barrage point-blank into the other vessel, blasting the two ships apart. Unlike the URBANUS class vessel, however, the CHULAINN was built for durability, and the wing that had housed the offending chainsaw broke off the ship. The URBANUS class vessel, without one of its stabilizers, started to drop.

            "Status on the other vessels?" Caroline demanded.

            "One down, the other one is retreating! We have two confirmed sinking ships," the observation post reported. Nodding, Caroline turned. "Send a doctor to my brother's cabin."

            Tom groaned at the bright light. "Who in the seven hells dumped the sun in my cabin?" He heard a low, feminine chuckle. "No one. Hey, bro. Good to see you're better."

            Tom squinted and let his eyes slowly adjust to the bright lights. "All right, so what happened?" She moved to stand closer to him. "We ran into a squad of Anatoure battleships. They attacked, we fought back." She could see him wince. "Result?"

            "Two ships sunk, one got away. They finished the URBANUS fleet."

            "Apparently, Walker's information was wrong," Tom concluded. "They must have sped up construction. I wonder why...Do you think they're expecting a Deusis invasion?" His sister shook her head. "I don't know. After Minagis, I'm sure the Deusis will think twice before attacking Anatoure again. And the information Walker gave us indicates Anatoure has been on the winning streak lately."

            "Maybe. How's the damage?"

            "Well, apart from a couple of damaged armor plates, minimal. We really need to replace the starboard armor plating. It's almost gone," Caroline told him.

            "What?"

            "The URBANUS had a big, nasty chainsaw attached to its side. I realized too late they were trying to goad us into evading them so they could cut us open like a roast turkey."

            Tom sighed. "All right. What about the crew?"

            "They didn't like it, but they understood it. We all know Vitellius sent those ships, and no one on board doesn't know what he's like. They may not like it, but they will do what has to be done. They already proved it, too."

            "Uh-huh. All right. Continue on the course to Minagis. I'll be there in a minute," Tom said as he struggled to sit up. The room began to grow fuzzy and he felt like he was swimming. Dizzyness flooded his senses, and he felt a strong urge to throw up.

            "Nope. You're staying here in bed and get some rest. Acting Captain's orders." Caroline grinned. Tom groaned and let himself fall back on the sheaths. "You really like this Captain thing, don't you?" She just nodded.

            "Deusis is going to invade Anatoure? I find that hard to believe. Their fleet is decimated!" The commander shouted. Duke Madosein indicated him to be silent. "Not at all. You see, if the enemy is at the verge of defeat and has nothing to loose, more often than not, humans tend to choose to fight to the death than continue living in despair and hopelessness," he said. The man who held the control over his very own personal battlegroup leaned forward and steepled his fingers.

            "Tell me, how do you propose we stop the two sides from killing each other?"

            Tom and Caroline exchanged a quick glance. "The princess is returning to the Imperial City as we speak to ask her father to cease hostilities." He was wearing a long, dark green coat to conceal his features. The guards had been adamant about not letting him in until Madosein himself had allowed them to enter.

            "And if the Emperor doesn't?"

            "Then she plans to assume the throne. She won't like it, but she knows it has to be done." Tom sighed as he thought of the woman on whose shoulders their conflict with Deusis – and now the Guild, too – rested.

            Madosein looked sceptical. "What if she is incarcerated for treason and executed?" He didn't like the idea himself. _But if there is anything we can do to avoid the total destructio of both our cultures, then we have to try, at the very least._

            "We have a...friend there. Besides, that's where you and your fleet come in. Anatoure has completed their prototype of a long-range artillery anti-ship cannon. We'll need to take it out. And we need to prevent the two sides from killing each other." Caroline said.

            "My forces are about as patched up as they can get. We are still only a small fleet, but we will do what we can," he finally said.

            Tom nodded. "And you won't be alone."

            As they turned to leave, Madosein called out once more. "You sound familiar. Are you sure we haven't met before?" Tom turned around. "Maybe."

            "Won't you tell me who the master of that famed 'Phantom Ship' is that is docked at the berth?"

            "I am."

            Madosein looked at the man before him intently. "I know I have met you before."

            Tom removed the hood and nodded. "Indeed we have, David Madosein."

            The other man gaped for a moment, before he realized his jaw was hanging down and closed it. "Tomaas Riatavin...How?" He whispered. "But...the NEHELENIA was destroyed..."

            "Obviously, the Deusis didn't do a very good job of it," Tom said and left with Caroline.

            Imperial City was ablaze. The city looked like the incarnate of the apocalypse, raveged by fire raining from the sky. Buildings were collapsing, fires blazing brightly in the handful of buildings that still stood. The Deusis armada that had amassed overhead blocked out the nightsky. Had it not been so brutal, the vista might have been beautiful.

            Marius, Prime Minister of Anatoure, sneaked up through the Imperial Palace to the throne room. He withdrew a dagger and stepped before the Emperor. "This has to end," he said. Few words were spoken, and no sound was heard except for the clash of metal on metal as they duelled. That night, a city fell, and with it, two of its greatest men.

            Vincent stared out of the viewport of the URBANUS as the Deusis battlegroup advanced. He had ordered the destruction of the Scolopendra Cannon, Anatoure's only defense against the overwhelming Deusis fleet that floated over their capital. He just hoped he had done the right thing.

            "The Deusis vanguard is within firing range!"

            He took a deep breath. How they would find out if their plan had worked out.

            "Deusis ships are opening gun ports!"

            He didn't give a command. They were sitting ducks, waiting for the Deusis to pick them off. _If the plan failed..._ He shuddered at the thought. _Then the Guild will have won._

            "We have new incomings!" The observation post called out. "Visual contact with at least...sixty-eight battleships confirmed! They're moving at high-altitude combat speed!"

            The commander of the URBANUS and the princess of Anatoure shared a glance. "Sophia?" He asked her. She shook her head. "I have no idea," she told him.

            "Contact confirmed! Confrim, ALUSTAR-, FORMOR-, and CLAIHM SOLAIS-class battleships! They're signalling! _All forces, this is Duke Madosein. Cease fire immediately._" Vincent let out a sigh of relief. "Are the Deusis complying?"

            "They are! They're signalling back!" Vincent glanced over at Sophia. They still had a long way to go, but the first step had been made.

            Tom watched silently from one of the rear benches as Sophia, formerly the SILVANNA's second-in-command, and now Anatoure's Empress, went through the coronation ceremony. She took the giant key-staff that started the hourglass, and slid it into its slot in the ground. The entire platform began to revolve and clicked into place. As if on cue, rose petals began to fall.

            _Rose petals? Tom glanced upwards. The sky seemed a little darker than it had a moment before. __Damn them! Damn you, Delphine! Tom mentally swore. There was no way he could reach the CHULAINN in time. Glancing upwards, he saw his fears confirmed. Breaking through the clouds was a giant vessel that looked somethat like an octahedral. It's six pointed wingtips seemed razor-sharp, even from the distance. Tom had seen a ship like that twice before..._

            "Is there anything we can do?" Caroline asked from beside him.

            "Not from here. We can only pray they're not here to crash the party," Tom replied. As he glanced up, he saw that someone else obviously had recognized the symbol of the rose petals. And that someone sat in the command chair of the SILVANNA. The battleship was headed right for the Guild dreadnought.

            "Is he crazy? He's not thinking about attacking the Guild alone, is he?" Caroline sounded incredulous. Tom understood her only too well. "He's like that," he said, then a frightening thought struck him. _Crap! He thought. _Sophia and the delegations are right under the Guild ship! If they sink it, it's gonna fall right on top of their heads! Alex, you idiot! Can't you see that she's setting you up?__

            To his surprise and relief, the SILVANNA veered off at the last moment. The Guild battleship, done with its mockery, retreated back above the clouds, leaving behind a stunned audience.


	7. Interlude Two: Lost Friend

Interlude Two: Lost Friend

            Wind blew the cloak around him as he stood on one of the numerous balconies of the Imperial Palace. The man looked up into the blue sky. Or where the blue sky used to be. Now, in its place, were countless battleships, drawn from Anatoure's finest yards. Anatoure was going to war, and this was only one of the signs. Sighing at the futility of the fighting, the man turned his back on the assembled armada. Soon, he would have to take his place as a commander aboard one of these vessels.

            "What are you doing here?" A woman with long flowing brown hair stepped out onto the balcony. The man shrugged. "Just thinking. Soon the battlefleets will be moving out to engage Deusis." He turned his gaze away from her eyes. "Does that mean you will be leaving?" Her tone grew very quiet. "Yes. I have to go, even though I don't want to." She stood beside him, leaning on the railing, her chin propped up in her palms.  "What makes this different from any other battles you've fought before?"

            "This time, I don't want to go."  He sighed. "I used to go out there and do the best I could because it seemed right to serve my nation and protect it." "It still is," she shot back. "Yes, but I used to view fighting differently. Now war actually seems wrong."

            "Why is that?"

            "I...Deusis and Anatoure are the only two nations on this world. Both are very powerful, and both will not hold back when they feel threatened. If it comes to that, we will wipe each other out." Facing the sky again, he stared at the assembled armade for a moment before continuing. "And now I actually don't want to leave...because I have a reason to come back. Because there is someone...I am starting to fear death, but not for my own sake." A signal flare shot out from one of the battleships. "Duty calls," he said, turning around. "Tom...are you coming back?" She took hold of his arm.

            "Count on it." He smiled grimly at her.

            After he had left, she remained standing on the platform, the wind blowing her long black officer's cloak around her. For a long moment, she just stood there, reflecting. His last words echoed in her mind..._"...because I have a reason to come back. Because there is someone..." A sinlge tear rolled down her cheek as she contemplated the words, then turned and left the balcony as well. "You better make sure you come back, Tomaas Riatavin...because someone will be waiting," she whispered._

            The armada's flagship fired a flare. As one, the ships fired up their Claudia units and began to move out. Among the fleet were several of the most powerful vessels ever built by Anatoure – the Claihm Solais class vessels. Two of them were part of the fleet: The CLAIHM SOLAIS, under the command of a young, energetic duke named Madosein, and her sister ship, NEHELENIA, captained by Tomaas Riatavin. Most of the ship captains were assembled in the war room of the flagship, a large, sturdy old battleship that had the name NUADA emblazoned on its flank.

            "We are going to strike at the heart of the Deusis fleet – they won't stand a chance!" The fleet's commander gave them a smile ladden with self-confidance. Tom suppressed a groan and glanced at the tactical map. "The main Deusis fleet has yet to cross the Grand Stream. For most battleships that would be impossible."

            "But some of their vanguard made it through, so we have to be careful," Madosein cautioned. "If their ships are indeed able to navigate the Grand Stream, we have to be prepared for a full-scale invasion." Tom nodded. "We have to hold off the Deusis forces, I agree on that. We have a vague idea of where their fleet will emerge from the Grand Stream, from the positions their vanguard took up. I say we attack now and wait for the rest of their fleet to arrive. That way, they will run right up into our guns."

            The Admiral interrupted. "That is not honorable battle tactics. We must uphold our nation's honor and engage the enemy in fair combat. Thus, we will have to wait until the Deusis forces arrive, and then fight a battle as the Spirit of Chivalry demands." Tom glanced at the older man. "You are right. Under normal circumstances, I would agree with you, but this isn't a war. This is an invasion. Deusis's vanguard forces have taken two provinces without warning. We must contain them, or their attacks will increase."

            "Even though Deusis has not kept to Guild regulations when starting this war, we must keep to it, it is what our honor demands," another captain fire back. "Deusis broke Guild regulations once, who is to say they won't break them again? Who will guarantee that Deusis won't drop in on us with a surprise attack?" The Admiral stood tall and met Riatavin's piercing glare. "The Guild will not allow such transgression of the regulations." Madosein stepped between the two men. "Gentlemen, please. We need to come up with a strategy that will let us fight honorably, but then, I also agree it should not leave us vulnerable to surprise attack."

            The two fleets faced each other in battle formation, hovering perfectly still in the air, like two gunslingers in a duel, waiting for the first move. On the bridge of the NUADA, the crew waited anxiously for the command. The elderly commander of the Anatoure fleet rose from his command seat and flipped the switch that would relay his words to the entire fleet. "As of today we, the finest of Anatoure, have come here to protect our nation's honor and land. As per Guild regulations, the two respective fleets of Anatoure and Deusis will now engage in honorable combat." A signal round leapt up from the top launcher of the NUADA, and the fleets started to close in.

            "Open the loading ramps – halfway only." Riatavin stood on the bridge of the NEHELENIA and watched from the command seat as the fleets moved together to let their riflemen exchange the first fire. "Why only halfway? Our riflemen won't be able to effectively fight the enemy!" An officer on the bridge noted. "We will drop them fully when we are alonside the Deusis ship," Tom announced. His second-in-command leaned in close and whispered, "You don't seem too content with this. May I ask why?"

            He shot a quick glance at her. "Simple," he whispered back. "I don't like needlessly sending people to their deaths. If the riflemen go out there, they'll most likely get killed. I don't care whether it's honorable, it's just wrong." The second-in-command nodded and stood straight again. "Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about it." "Unfortunately, no. Except to pray for them."

            The two battleships moved alongside, the large cargo doors on the side of each ship opening. Riflemen stood at the ready, going through the choreographed movement of loading and presenting their rifles in a salute to their nation. Again, Deusis and Anatoure forces faced each other off.

            Tom glanced out the viewport and saw a second signal flare shooting up from the deck of the NUADA. He closed his eyes. "Utsukata hajime," he whispered. "_Commence fire."_

            The riflemen charged forward with a savage yell, firing their steam-powered rifles into the enemy ranks. The Deusis troops did the same. Soldiers fell all over the interlocked cargo doors that formed a bridge between the two ships. As the first row of riflemen was decimated, the second row charged, with an equally savage yell. Bullets propelled by the powerful steam engines of the ship itself tore into the other side's ranks, wreaking havoc when they struck.

            An eye for an eye...a life for a life. The two armies decimated each other, drenching the floor of the cargo door in crimson blood, until there was no more to be spilled. The few survivors limped off the battlefield. Then, the cargo bay doors began to close, dumping the bodies of the dead and those that didn't get off quickly enough roughly into the cargo bay.

            The survivors glanced around them, their eyes glistening with tears as they took in the carnage, looking for friends that might have survived. There were few.

            "Casualty report!" Tom bellowed. "88 per cent losses, but the enemy lost 92 per cent of his troops," an officer relayed. "What is the status of the rest of the fleet?" "It looks like we have the advantage over Deusis. The Admiral's ship is raising signal flags – blue, green, black. They are offering a cease-fire!" The observation post reported.

            "Let Deusis accept it....come on, accept it..." Riatavin chanted. An officer stood up. "We have a Deusis reply! They launched a flare – black, black, black! They didn't accept it!" Tom sank back into his chair. "Let's see if the Guild is holding true to their word this time...All hands, prepare for intership artillery fire! Battlestations!"

            Turrets on all ships began to swivel, panels slid aside, revealing cannons. Aligning themselves at the hostile ships, the opposing forces waited for the signal for the second stage of the battle to begin. In the same instant, a signal flare launched from both the Deusis and the Anatoure flagships. The meaning of the single-colored round was clear: All forces, open fire.

            For a moment, everything seemed tranquil, with the ships peacefully floating alongside in the air. Then fire poured down from the opposing forces, so thickly the sky turned black. The ships already side-by-side opened up, firing point-blank into each other's superstructure, while the rear ships provided longer-range support fire. Massive turrets opened up with destructive salvos of high-caliber shells. The NEHELENIA shuddered from the impacts. "Open fire!" Tom shouted as the tremors continued to rack the battleship. "Sink that ship! Tell the NÉIT to pull up alongside so we can cover her!"

           The guns on the Deusis ship went silent for a split second. That was all the return fire from the NEHELENIA needed. Countless turrets and gun emplacements opened up on the other ship, the shells digging deeply into the vessel's fuselage, leaving gaping holes where they struck.

            "Don't fire all guns at once! Keep up a constant barrage – rotate the firing cannons to reload so they can keep up the fire!" Tom shouted over the noise the NEHELENIA's guns produced. As the Anatoure ship kept up a steady barrage of fire, the Deusis ship's hull began to crumble. "The Deusis's Unit is dissociating! She's going down!" The observation post reported. Tom nodded in acknowledgement. "All right. Have the NÉIT move up into flanking position so that they can cover us."

            As the second battleship moved to take up position next to the NEHELENIA, Tom watched as several more Deusis ships took fatal hits, their Claudia drive units dissociating from the remainder of the hull and returning to the Guild. However, some of the Anatoure ships also  took heavy fire, and he watched as the BALOR went down in a blaze of flames.

            As his gaze wandered across the battlefield, he noticed the CLAIHM SOLAIS fighting off two hostile battleships in an attempt to break through to the blockaded flagship NUADA. Clutching the railing with one hand, he held up binoculars with the other and could see the NUADA taking on a force of three enemy ships head-on while being surrounded by four more. "Damn it! Signal the NÉIT to move out! Full combat speed to the coordinates of the NUADA – and signal them to pull the hell out of there! They'll get shot to pieces if they don't break out," he shouted. 

            As the NEHELENIA closed in with the Deusis ships battling the CLAIHM SOLAIS, the cannons of the huge battleship opened fire once more, tearing into the hulls of the already weakened Deusis cruisers. One of the hostile ships started dropping, while the second began to turn before its Claudia unit dissociated. At the same time, the NUADA took several direct hits from the trailing Deusis forces, and Tom watched in horror as smoke began pouring out of the engine assembly of the aging cruiser.

            "Keep up the fire! Take down those Deusis ships, concentrate all fire forward on their engines! We need to protect the Admiral's ship," Duke Madosein shouted over the whine of the combat alert and the constant explosions that rattled the ship. "Sir, we have two incoming friendly ships! They are opening fire on the Deusis forces!" As Madosein glanced sideways across the viewport, he caught a glimpse of the NEHELENIA and NÉIT before the fire from those ships blocked them from view.

            "The Deusis ships are down! Full spead ahead, breach their formation and move to intercept the vessels pursuing the NUADA! I –" An aide interrupted him. "Sir, look!" Madosein turned his gaze towards the location of the NUADA, just in time to see the battleship take shots from three sides, and beginning to drop, her engine array in flames. 

            "NUADA is hit! She is going down!" The yell echoed across the bridge of the NEHELENIA. Tom gripped the banister tighter, his knuckles turning white. He considered his options. "Order ANSWELLER and ARMADA here! Signal CLAIHM SOLAIS to launch grappling hooks into NUADA on the port flank, and get us around to their starboard side! Attach grappling hooks to their hull! Starboard cannons, fire at will at the Deusis ships!"

            As the NEHELENIA and CLAIHM SOLAIS closed in with the crippled cruiser, the Deusis battleships began spreading out, directing their fire at the newcomers. The deck of the NEHELENIA shuddered beneath him as the shells impacted against the hull. Panels aboard both the NEHELENIA and CLAIHM SOLAIS slid aside, revealing harpoon cannons. Powered by the main steam engines of their respective vessels, they launched harpoons at NUADA, attaching themselves to the hull with a solid _thud._

            "We have confirmed attachment to the NUADA! CLAIHM SOLAIS is confirming as well!" An officer reported. Tom glanced at the viewport to see NUADA's Claudia drive unit separate from the main structure of the ship and angle upwards, to return to the nearest Guild station. "Full speed ahead and upwards! I want all thrust diverted straight ahead! Instruct the CLAIHM SOLAIS to do the same – we have to hold NUADA! Guns, neutralize those Deusis ships!"

            From a secure distance away, a select number of military personnel, strategists, civilians, and royal observers studied the battle in progress. They watched as the riflemen exchanged fire, as the cease-fire offer was rejected, and the aerial battle. "What are they doing?" A middle-aged man asked. He was wearing a white robe with royal trim, denoting his position as Prime Minister.

            "It seems as though NEHELENIA and CLAIHM SOLAIS are trying to hold on to NUADA, even though that ship's Claudia drive is gone," one of the military officers told him. He nodded in satisfaction and returned the binoculars to his eyes.

            A gasp startled the assembled crowd, causing heads to turn in the direction the sound had come from. "What is it, Lieutenant Forrester?" The Prime Minister glanced at her, concern showing in his eyes. She turned at him, one hand holding the binoculars, the other pointing at the sky. "Marius..."

            He looked up in the direction she had pointed in, and couldn't see much more than smoke and little flares of light. As he adjusted his binoculars, he saw what she had indicated – the Deusis fleet had been defeated, and most of it was retreating after a signal from its flagship. Several battleships, however, were still actively engaged in battle.

            The flare shot up from the Deusis flagship, a yellow and blue signal. "The Deusis fleet is leaving the field of battle, and admits its honorable defeat." The message was met with rejoicing from the crews of the Anatoure ships, and the bridge of the NEHELENIA erupted in cheers as the observation post reported the signal had been confirmed.

            "Let's get to work – direct all thrust upwards, slowly lower NUADA to the ground. Instruct Madosein to match our rate of descent." Tom wiped sweat from his brow. The battle was over. Then alert klaxons blared again as the deck shuddered violently, throwing him to the ground. "What is this?" He was back up in a split second, holding on to the railing of the command platform.

            "Five Deusis ships are still firing at us!" The second-in-command reported. "They are also firing at CLAIHM SOLAIS and NUADA, but seem to be concentrating on us." Tom instinctively ducked as a blast shattered the viewport. Glass shards rained on the front rows of crewmen before reversing course and being sucked out the hole by the draft.

            "Hold up NUADA! Open fire, all turrets! Never mind procedure, just blast them out of the sky!" Tom yelled over the whine of alarms. "And switch off these alarms!" The NEHELENIA shuddered under several more impacts, and one of the shots from the Deusis ships hit a harpoon cannon, severing the string anchoring the crippled Anatoure flagship to the NEHELENIA.

            "NUADA is dropping! We just lost one of the anchor cables!"

            Tom stared at the Deusis ships for a long moment. "Where is the Guild?" He heard the question repeatedly across the bridge. He was even asking himself the same question. As the battle progressed, it dawned on him that they had done it again; they had betrayed them yet again. The Guild wouldn't come to save them – it was just a game to them, after all.

            "Increase rate of descent! Drop down NUADA! Call in CLAIHM SOLAIS and tell them to get that cruiser off our flank!" He leaned against the railing for support as NEHELENIA took more hits.

            The three vessels sank with frightening speed. NUADA started to lean to starboard, where NEHELENIA couldn't quite carry the entire weight of the battleship. As Deusis ships continued to surround and bombard the vessels, gaping holes appeared in NEHELENIA's formerly pristine hull, shells tearing through her interiors.

            Tom heard a scream, and turned. Out of reflex, he reached out and grabbed the woman who was flying past him by her arms. The drag of the air flowing out of one of the broken windows had obviously tried to suck her out after she stumbled on a piece of debris.

            "Thank you," she panted. "Why isn't the Guild stopping this?"

            Tom looked outside again, at the gargantuan Deusis battleships that were turning his once-proud vessel into a flying grave. "They won't come," he said. "But..." He didn't give her time to finish the question as he stood up, leaning against the fierce wind, and straightened his uniform. "Detach the cables from NUADA. We're low enough that they can make it safely to the ground. Once the cables are gone, ahead full spead, bearing one-nine-four mark two-eighteen. All turrets, commence fire on the ship to the port side."

            _It's happening again...as Tom leaned against the railing, standing tall, old memories flooded back. Cables popped off the hull as the warship turned around and headed towards its new bearing. Gun turrets swiveled around and began tracking targets again. As the confusion over the surprise assault faded, they opened up in coordinated barrages again, wreaking havoc upon Deusis forces once more._

            "What is going on?" Duke Madosein demanded as the CLAIHM SOLAIS shook under the renewed fire of the Deusis ships. "It seems Deusis has broken the agreement and attacked again – we must petition the Guild!" One of the aides reported. Another one interjected, "NEHELENIA has been hit hard! They lost one of the anchor cables!"

            "NEHELENIA is signalling us to drop faster!"

            Madosein glanced at the window. "The Guild must intervene...Drop us faster! Engage the Deusis ships! Get them off the NEHELENIA – when this is over, I want that ship in one piece!"

            His crew acknowledged his orders, and soon the guns of the CLAIHM SOLAIS roared to life again.

            "Minister Marius!" The yell echoed across the plane. The addressee turned around. "What is it?" He arched an eyebrow at the undisciplined behaviour of the soldier running towards him.

            "The Deusis forces are attacking again! They have isolated the NUADA, CLAIHM SOLAIS, and NEHELENIA! NEHELENIA is taking heavy fire!"

            "What is happening..." Marius wondered as he stared up at the sky, looking at the flashes of explosions. "Why hasn't the Guild interfered yet?"

            As NEHELENIA accelerated away from the descending NUADA and the CLAIHM SOLAIS holding her, she was still being pounced by Deusis forces. "They are focusing on us!" Tom smiled grimly. "Angle our course up, twelve degrees from the horizontal. Tilt the port flank by twenty degrees, then pull about on heading two-eight-four! Cut the engines right there on my mark!"

            The battleship vectored away, then suddenly tilted, causing the ship to cut a sharper angle as it turned. Aligning itself back straight, it hovered, guns waiting for targets. As soon as Deusis ships came into range, the cannons opened fire again, launching a full broadside into the first formation of cruisers that attacked.

            The second wave opened fire under the cover of the first, and scored hits, tearing more holes into NEHELENIA's hull. One shell buried itself deep into the core of the ship, striking the Claudia drive unit that propelled the battleship. Smoke began streaming out of the engine array. 

            "Our Unit is dissociating! We're dropping!" An engineer reported. Tom glared down at the man. "Can you hold it?" The grease-covered man shook his head. "It has been hit, and the Guild people inside are tearing at the support structure – there's no way we can stop them."

            "There is," Tom vaulted over the railing and sprinted off into the corridors of his ship towards the propulsion system.

            Marius slowly walked over towards where the woman stood, transfixed by the view of the battle overhead. "Sophia..." he began.

            When she didn't reply, he turned his binoculars at the sky. He didn't see the NEHELENIA, or the Deusis ships. There was just the NUADA, dangling precariously from the support cables from the CLAIHM SOLAIS.

            As he searched across the sky for them, he couldn't help but wonder what was going on in her. He admitted they were very close, and she looked up at him like a father, but she was still a mystery he failed to unravel sometimes.

            "They're there," she whispered. As he found NEHELENIA, his heart sank. Five Deusis battleships were headed for it, and smoke was already coming out of her engines. The ship was doomed.

            "The Guild...why isn't the Guild doing anything?"

            _Come back... She didn't dare whisper the words, but in her mind she screamed them out so loud it seemed all of Heaven could hear her. _Please let him come back...__

            As he slid down the ladder, he ran into a rifleman and grabbed his weapon, then continued his insane sprint for the Claudia unit. As he ran, an equally insane idea formed in his head. His mind calculated tactics and odds – and the odds were not good. He tossed them to the wind. The rational part of his mind told him to stop right then and there, but with his emotions boiling over, he wouldn't let himself admit and accept defeat. Not this time.

            Coming to a full stop in front of the array, he could see where the last enemy hit had impacted; it had torn a gaping hole into the unit's front. He could hear voices inside, and stepped through the door. "Stop." He commanded.

            The Guild members inside turned around and looked at him. "What?"

            "Stop the dissociation," Tom whispered, his voice taking on a deadly quiet tone as he aimed the rifle at them. Time stretched as the Guild engineers just stared at him. The firing had ceased for a moment, most of NEHELENIA's turrets destroyed and the Deusis ships probably releading for another barrage.

            Finally, an engineer moved. "Not a chance in hell." He moved towards an array of levers and tried to grab on to one. Tom clenched his teeth and squeezed the trigger. A single bullet shot out of the barrel and buried itself deep into the other man's chest. He collapsed against the controls, dead. Realizing he had no ammunition left, Tom charged into the midst of the Guild people, beginning a frantic variation of "capture the flag".

            As the engineers closed in on him, Tom reversed his grip on the rifle and swung it around. He pulled it back towards him as one of the Guild personnel doubled over from the blow and locked it with one of the levers, swinging himself into the group of attackers feet first. Riatavin slammed into one of the more senior members of the Guild engineers, and rolled as both of them fell to the ground.

           Before he could get back to his feet, the other men had him surrounded and heaved him up with a contemptious look. "Getting arrogant, are we?" One of them spat and raised his hand to hit him. Before the fist could connect, NEHELENIA shuddered from another series of impacts, knocking down the Guild members. Tom glanced up as he lay on the ground and saw a support strut dangling precariously above them, hanging on by a mere thread of steel cable. He knew it wouldn't last through the next barrage that hit the ship.

            As NEHELENIA continued to heave from the next couple of hits, the support beam indead started to get loose. It dropped, and after one last detonation against the outer hull that caused the ship to lean to port, fell loose and came crashing to the ground. As the support beam raced down at his prone figure, Tom shifted his weight and rolled as the beam crashed down on the Claudia unit.

            As the dust settled, he carefully sat up and surveyed the damage. He was still alive, and he was staring in amazement at the propulsion unit that had withstood such severe punishment. The Guild members were nowhere to be seen, and he assumed they had not been quite so fortunate to escape the falling debris. As he limped into the smashed control room, he surveyed the array of levers and switches that were still - miraculously – intact.

            He pulled back on one, then pulled the receiver of the intercom towards him. "All hands, this is the captain. We will make full speed for the nearest cover. Bridge, settle a course for," he thought a moment. "Set a course two-twenty-nine mark eight. We will take cover in the Dragon's Tooth." He could imagine what kind of reaction that had evoked from his crew. The Dragon's Tooth was a unique geographical feature, a mountain range that extended far into the sky, high enough to be a danger to the ships that dared to navigate it.

            If anyone questioned his orders, he didn't find out as he deciphered the lettering on one of the levers and pulled it backwards. NEHELENIA turned and creaked as wind cut into the gaping holes in the hull.

            "I can't see the NEHELENIA anymore!" Marius glanced over to the main observation post. "Where is the NEHELENIA? Find me that ship!" he ordered. As he turned his attention back towards the sky, he saw specks of gray billowing in the air around the remaining Deusis ships. "I want to know if she has been destroyed or is still there – and send in reinforcements!"

            "NEHELENIA confirmed in sector 3! She is vectoring away and leaving the battle!" The Prime Minister stared in amazement. After all the damage the ship had sustained, she was still flying – he had thought her drive unit had dissociated and the vessel - and all hands - had been lost. A ray of hope glimmered up in him as he began to bellow commands. "Instruct the nearest ships to intercept those Deusis vessels! Protect the NEHELENIA under all circumstances! Have NÉIT go to full flank speed and cut across the Deusis fleet – relieve the NEHELENIA!"

            "The NEHELENIA is moving towards the Dragon's Tooth!" Marius swallowed hard. He was beginning to wonder what the captain of that ship was planning. Leading a damaged vessel with a hostile fleet in pursuit into one of the most dangerous areas on the entire world was insanity. And it was highly unorthodox. But then, this battle had been anything _but_ orthodox.

            Tom called over a bunch of engineers that were headed for one of the damaged areas. "Hey! You there! Come here and take over! We need to controls on this ship stable before we go anywhere!" As the men approached and looked around the control room, he hauled back on another lever. "Don't stand around like sandstatues, man this post!" As quickly as he could, he gave them an overview on what the controls he had figured out did, and sprinted off for the bridge again.

            As the NEHELENIA approached the Dragon's Tooth, the Deusis forces followed in blind pursuit. Although the Anatoure vessel had a head start, its engines were damaged, and its superstructure scarred, enabling the Deusis ships to catch up. Tom burst through the bridge doors and glanced at the sky outside. He could make out the cliffs and ridges of the Dragon's Tooth with the naked eye, which meant they were close.

            NEHELENIA shook as the Deusis ships were back into firing range. He quickly calculated the distance to their destination. They would barely make it. Barely.

            "NUADA is on the ground. They have commenced de-boarding." Madosein glanced at the aide. "Good. Now get us ahead full speed towards the NEHELENIA. Intercept the Deusis ships before they destroy them." "Sir! The NEHELENIA has changed course! They are moving into the Dragon's Tooth!" Madosein froze. "The Dragon's Tooth?" He stared at the tactical charts. "Dóshite ka?" He asked no one in particular. _"...Why?"_

            He tore his eyes from the map. "Follow them! All guns, commence fire as soon as we are within range!" CLAIHM SOLAIS began moving again.

             Tom braced himself against the railing as another barrage struck the crippled NEHELENIA. A support beam crashed down, and he heard a cry of pain – someone probably got caught beneath it. He forced his attention away from the screams and towards the helm. "Come on," he urged the ship onward.

            As the Anatoure battleship moved into the Dragon's Tooth, her bow pointed a little too far to the left, and the helmsman corrected – but he failed to calculate the battle damage the ship had sustained, and overcorrected, and NEHELENIA's starboard armor plates scraped along the side of the first rift, tearing open the hull even further.

            Tom grimaced as he listened to the creaking of the metal plates and the howling of the wind. A report from the observation post confirmed what he had been hoping for – the Deusis ships were still following them.  "At the next rift, make a sharp turn to port, 72 degrees port, lean her to the side at eleven degrees!"

            As NEHELENIA rounded the next rift, her fuselage leaned to the side, cutting the turn sharper. The Deusis ships were still behind, but now NEHELENIA had the cover of at least one rift between them. The Deusis forces started opening up again, despite the fact that they were hidden from their sight. That meant they were within firing range.

            Tom calculated the odds of making it through the phalanx of Deusis ships. His second-in-command was back at his side. "We aren't going to pull this off, are we?" He looked at her. "It doesn't look like it. If we keep going, the Dragon's Tooth is going to kill us sooner or later – and if we stay here, Deusis are going to blow us into tiny little..." He stopped in midsentence as an idea formulated in his mind. A foolish, desperate, seat-of-the-pants idea, but it had one merit: it was definitely nothing the enemy expected. But it was also likely to get them killed. "What the heck, we're dead anyway." Tom marched to the front. "Come about at one-eighty degrees. Wait for my mark, then full speed ahead and fire the guns on my second mark at elevation sixteen thousand feet, thirty-three degrees on the x-y and fourty-six degrees elevation."

            "What are you trying to do, if I may ask?" Tom smiled grimly at the second-in-command. "Getting us killed."

            The Deusis ships approached the Dragon's Tooth, still firing blindly at the suspected position of the NEHELENIA. The first two ships entered the foggy area that marked the entrance to the Dragon's Tooth pass, then the next two.

            Duke Madosein watched grimly from the command deck of the CLAIHM SOLAIS. He knew they wouldn't be there in time. If the NEHELENIA ran, they'd be dead even before they'd managed to get a couple of miles. If they stayed and fought, they'd be dead before he could reach the Dragon's Tooth. Still, he hoped and silently urged his ship onwards, her engines in overdrive.

            A flash of light emanated from the entrance to the Dragon's Tooth, bright enough to be seen by the entire fleet and observers on the ground. He took up his binoculars and stared through them intently. As he could make out shapes, he could see tiny flares that marked gunfire. He could also see the outline of vessels illuminated only by internal fires – and they were dropping. He hoped the NEHELENIA wasn't one of them.

            Just before he averted his eyes, he could make out the angular shape of their sister ship, different from the smooth, flowing designs of the Deusis. Time seemed to slow down as he watched NEHELENIA ram into two Deusis ships and exploded, her burning hulk dropping below the foggy surface area. He turned away, caught between anger and sadness, closing his eyes against the pounding headache that had suddenly appeared.

            "The Deusis ships are entering the Dragon's Tooth!" The yell came from the listening post. "Wait." Tom cautioned. "Wait...now! Mark! Full speed ahead!" Tom stared at the viewport, transfixed as he saw the oncoming Deusis ships closing in faster as NEHELENIA put on a burst of speed. As they passed a cliff, he gave the second signal. "Mark! Open fire!"

            NEHELENIA's remaining turrets opened up, raining their destructive power upon their target. The upper part of one of the rock formations that looked like a tooth and had given the area its name crumbled and fell on one of the Deusis ships as NEHELENIA passed by it. Tom watched as the second flight of Deusis ships closed in. "Alter course to two-twenty-three mark one! Close with the Deusis ships!" 

            "We can't evade if we come at them with full speed," the second-in-command warned him. He shot her a cold, calculating gaze. "I know. I'm counting on it that we can't miss them." He turned to the intercom. "All hands, clear the outer sections, secure the bulkheads and brace for impact!"

            NEHELENIA crashed into one of the Deusis ships with full force, taking the unsuspecting ships by surprise. Her prow ripped through the Deusis ship's hull, tearing more gaping holes in its own hull in the process, and sliced the enemy ship in two. NEHELENIA's momentum carried her into the second ship of the formation. The Anatoure ship hit it towards the rear, and the Deusis's Claudia unit began to dissociate.

            Tom hung on to the railing as the ship shuddered and tossed under the impacts. "Main cannons, open fire at the cliff to port! High explosive shells!" As the last of the battleship's guns roared to life and struck the cliff, ejecting a plume of smoke and fire. Then, the ship was sinking, enveloped by flame and explosions.

            Marius closed his eyes in defeat as he watched the explosion near the entrance to the Dragon's Tooth. Such a promising young crew...He felt even sorrier for the young woman next to him. He was sure she was more distressed than she would let herself show, and it seemed that she had lost more than just a friend today.

            Sophia looked up into the sky and sent a wordless scream to the heavens. "Noooo!" _He promised to come back... She didn't turn her gaze from the Dragon's Tooth, hoping for a sign, for the bow of a vessel to emerge. It didn't. Anger boiled up inside her, anger at the Deusis for starting the war, anger at _him_ for letting himself get killed, anger at the Guild, who had let this happen, even though it was a breach of their very own regulations. She clamped a mental iron box around her emotions and wrapped a thick chain around it. Now was not the time for grief. All that escaped was a single tear rolling down her cheek._


	8. Chapter Six: Fleet of Littleships

Chapter Six: Fleet of Littleships

                        Horizon Cave was bustling with an amount of activity it rarely saw other than during the annual Eight-Hour Endurance Race. Now, warships of every size and kind – from the titanic, blocky Anatoure Claihm-Solais battlecruisers to the elegantly curved Deusis frigates – were moored there and undergoing preparation for battle. It probably was the largest armada Prestale's face had ever seen, and it was one of the oddest, as well. Old enemies were fighting alongside each other, old grudges forgotten, ancient feuds put aside.

            Now, Deusis cruisers and Anatoure battleships would be fighting side-by-side against their common enemy. If they won, the world and their fate was theirs. If they lost...

            The planning room was a cacophony of voices. Commanders of their parts of the respective battlegroups were arguing about who should take point during the assault, and ships' captains were discussing assault tactics with their infantry commanders. In the middle of all this, three people formed an island of relative calm as they outlined the general order of battle.

            "We will send in our men exactly two days after you left for the Grand Stream. If you haven't found Exile by then, we will fight, but I doubt that we can win," Madosein said. His distinct blue and white uniform was still kept in an immaculate condition. Sophia nodded. "We will have to hurry before the Guild realizes we have pinpointed Exile's location this close. But the URBANUS and SILVANNA should be able to find it." The newly crowned empress had exchanged her royal garb for her more familiar black uniform of the SILVANNA. "With Alex's and Deusis's information on Exile's location, we should be able to find it more easily. Now we know where to look."

            "Which ships are you going to take with you?" Madosein glanced over at the Deusis's leader.

            "We will take the SILVANNA and the URBANUS. They are the only intact ships with unlicensed drives." It was true – the two formidable battleships were the only ones whose engines weren't built under Guild control, which removed them from the Guild's reach. "If any other ship tried to follow, the Guild would recall their Claudia Unit even before we entered the Grand Stream."

            "Is two ships enough? We are willing to risk sending more," the Deusis commander interjected. Sophia shook her head. "No. We can't risk it. We need all available ships here. Besides, only the URBANUS and the SILVANNA are properly outfitted to navigate the Grand Stream. Any other ship would be torn apart."

            "Not true," a voice said from behind them. The three spun around to see Tom walking towards them. "The CU CHULAINN and the BATTLEMASTER are perfectly capable of navigating the Grand Stream, as well." The former second-in-command of the SILVANNA arched an eyebrow. "Which are those ships? I never heard of them. They are certainly not Anatoure ships," she glanced quickly over a ship roster. "Nor are they registered as any ships that are here."

            "That's because they are not part of a military force." Tom jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "Berths eighty-one and eighty-two." Sophia tried to recall which ships lay at the assigned docking spaces. She saw a quick smile flit over Madosein's face. "I don't remember. What ships are they?"

            "The CU CHULAINN is the Phantom Ship, your highness," Madosein informed her. Deusis's commander gaped, and Sophia looked at Tom closely, and a strange sense of dejá vú struck her. He looked very familiar. _How can it be...?_

            Tom noticed her hesitation. "They are my personal ships. I am willing to follow you into the Grand Stream with them – four eyes see more than two, after all." Sophia nodded. "All right. I'll put you down. We'll split into two groups with our assigned search quadrants. The SILVANNA and URBANUS will take one, while your ships take quadrant two." Tom nodded in acknowledgement. 

            The conference room had quieted down somewhat, with the exception of Madosein, Sophia, and Tom, everyone had returned to their respective commands. Tom and Madosein were about to take their leave when Sophia called back on Tom. "Wait." He turned around. "What is it, your highness?"

            She saw Madosein chuckle as he left and closed the door behind him. "Actually, I am the second-in-command of the SILVANNA again. Since you are the captain of your own ship, you outrank me," she said with a small smile. He just nodded. "What is it, then?"

            "Is your ship really the legendary 'Phantom Ship'?" 

            "Yes."

            "Are all the rumours about it true?"

            "Which rumours?"

            Sophia took a deep breath. She had to find out whether she could trust this man with Exile, if he found it. "All of them. That you fight your personal war with the Guild. That you directly attack Guild vessels. That your ship always wins. That you always vanish right after the battle. Every single one of them."

            She could see him sigh. "Yes. Every one of them is true. We fight our war with the Guild. Yes, we directly attack them. All of the rumours you might have heard about us are true," Tom could hear her sharp intake of breath. "Except for one. We never once attacked anyone else. We never destroyed cities. We never provoked Guild attacks on civilian targets."

            She nodded. "Why?" She finally broke the uncomfortable silence that had fallen over them. "Why what?" He asked.

            "Why attack the Guild? Hasn't there been enough bloodshed?"

            He gave a dry chuckle. "There has been more than enough. I'm trying to end it. What the Guild did was...unforgivable. And as long as we let them, they will keep doing whatever they please. We must draw a line. Right here." Tom paused. "I could ask you the same question. Why rise up against the Guild now? Why risk the death of so many people?"

            Sophia shook her head. "I don't know. They...started this. They fouled the peace treaty between Anatoure and Deusis. They do everything they can to keep us at war – and for what? We don't even know. I – _I_ don't know." She averted her gaze, but he caught the glimmer of unshed tears in her eyes. "I feel lost," she told him. Somehow, she knew she could trust this man, instinctively. "I feel like...like my whole world has come crushing down around me."

            He laid a hand on her shoulder. "I know. I felt like that, too, once before."

            "When?"

            "It was a long time ago. And a very wise person told me that the only thing we can do is try to remember the good memories and cling to them." Tom smiled gently as he recalled the memory.

            Sophia gaped. _Can it really be...No. The NEHELENIA is dead._ "Who are you?" She whispered. 

            "Just call me Tom. I'm the captain of the Phantom Ship. Isn't that enough?"

            "I mean, who are you really?"

            He sighed. "I can't tell you – it would make matters even worse for you. Trust me, it's better if you don't know."

            "I need to know," she pleaded. "Tell me."

            As he glanced into her brown eyes, he relented, finally. "All right. I am the former commander of the Imperial Navy of Anatoure battleship NEHELENIA during the first invasion of Deusis, almost ten years ago. Tomaas Riatavin." As soon as she heard that, she flung herself into him, holding on to him in a death grip. He just held her, while her tears started soaking the front of his dark green coat.

            "Why didn't you ever tell me you were alive?" She asked. 

            "Tomaas Riatavin died with the NEHELENIA," he said simply. "Now, I'm just Tom."

            "How...?"

            "It's not important." He held on to her, as well. "And you never told me who _you really were," he murmured._

            The next day came with the rise of the sun. Slowly rising over the horizon, its rays began to illuminate the glittering armada that was assembled there. Light danced across the harsh angles of Anatoure battlecruisers, and reflected off the elegantly curved hulls of Deusis vessels. With the rise of the sun came a formation of smaller vessels, soaring over the horizon in perfect formation. Silhouetted against the rising sun were the Vanships.

            Tom stood on the observation deck of the CU CHULAINN, watching as the tiny vessels went through their maneuvers with unerring accuracy, their bodies glittering in the crimson light of the new day. He let his gaze wander over the countless ships moored at the Horizon Cave dock, dormant dragons biding their time to strike. The almost beautifully crafted Deusis cruisers harshly contrasted by the precise, angular Anatoure vessels. Each one unique. Each one beautiful in its own way. Each one deadly. Each one determined to fight to the end.

            As he looked back outside, the Vanships had gotten closer. He could make out the details on them now, like the occassional markings their pilots attached to their vessels to add a touch of their own personality. His thoughts wandered back in time. He had loved flying once. He had enjoyed the feel of the air rushing past, the thrill of the aerial acrobatics, the speed of the Vanships. Yet, Vanships had started the entire mess. It was because of Vanships and their Claudia Units the Guild had started restricting larger units. Vanships and flying had caused him to meet Sophia – actually, he mused, that was a good thing. And now Vanships were being used to fight and kill. _I can see what Caroline meant. Vanships are turning into weapons. The sad part is, they are doing better at this than anything else. When the time came, Vanships would be the spearhead of their thrust against the Guild. They would be the ones leading the fight. And the outcome of the battle could very well depend on the skills and courage of the men in those pilot seats. Tom wished he could be out there, as well. His eyes returned to watching the pilots prepare for their missions. The war with the Guild was starting in less than three days._

            "It's a scene of beauty, isn't it?" A voice asked from behind him. "And yet, it is somehow appalling to see so much capacity for destruction." Sophia stepped into the observation deck.

            Tom turned around. "Yes."

            She noticed his eyes were on the Vanships. "I know you want to be out there, but we need you here. _I_ need you here. The faster we can find Exile, the faster the war will be over."

            He nodded. "I know. I used to like flying," he said. "I remember. I remember you skipping a simulation to work on your Vanship more than once, back at the Academy," she replied, smiling.

            Tom looked at her smile, and returned it. "Say, when this is over, want to go for a ride?"

            She grinned. "It's a deal." They stood there in comfortable silence, until she asked, "What happened?"

            "What do you mean?"

            "When the NEHELENIA was destroyed."

            Tom sighed. "It's a long story..."


	9. Interlude Three: The CU CHULAINN

Interlude Three: The CU CHULAINN

            A crater in the side of a mountain wasn't something special in the Dragon's Tooth. There were many of them, some produced naturally, some created by careless vessels flying into the mountains and cliffs. This one, however, was different. Inside the wrecked remains of what had once been a proud battleship, someone was still alive. 

            A man crawled out from under the debris of what had once been the bridge of the ship, and looked around. Seeing something else move, he limped over and attempted to haul a support beam off from where it lay, holding it up barely long enough for a woman to crawl out. All over the ruined place, things were stirring. The man glanced around, surprised this many had survived.

            "You're a mess," the woman said, indicating his ruined captain's uniform. He chuckled. "You're just the same." He shot back, and, despite their situation, they broke out into laughter. They kept laughing as they helped the rest of the survivors out and scouted the rest of the ship for survivors.

            As they passed through the corridors that were more or less intact, anger started to rise again in Tom. He glanced around and saw dead and broken bodies. Though there were surprisingly many survivors, little less than half the crew was dead. And then there was the matter of getting them back home.

            Bile rose in his stomach as he saw the engine room, people smashed beneath giant support beams, impaled on controls. The only thing remotely intact was the Claudia chamber, and he marveled at that.

            As what was left of his crew assembled in the now cavernously-empty cargo bay that had once housed hundreds of riflemen, he looked around at the torn and haggard faces of the survivors of the Guild betrayal. It wasn't that the Guild had done anything. It was what the Guild _hadn't _done that brought them here. 

            He turned and faced them. "We came to this battlefield expecting a fair battle. Yet Deusis has broken the regulations, and the Guild has not interfered. I wouldn't care a damn about what the Guild does, except for the fact that it costs people's lives. We are stuck here, in the Dragon's Tooth, and I fully intent to get every single one of you back to Anatoure alive – but I can't. I cannot and will not let the Guild continue to put our people at risk. I have seen them do it more than once, and always at a horrible cost. I will not see it happen again." His voice dropped to a deathly quiet whisper. "They wiped out entire towns, refused to enforce their decrees, and killed thousands of people. I will draw the line right here. I have just about had it with the Guild. I will not allow them to kill more of our people. You have fought with me, and you've been a good and loyal crew. I'm not going to risk any of your lives in my personal crusade, but I will not be able to return to Anatoure before it is over."

            He could see some confusion between the people, then he turned his back on them and slowly walked out of the room. He didn't expect any of them to follow him on what probably was a suicide mission.The greater his surprise was when he felt his sister's hand on his shoulder and saw the entire remains of the crew assembled behind her, grim looks on their faces. "I remember Mayasa, too, Tom. I remember what they did to our home." A hefty gunner beside her spoke up, "Yeah, and we're all in this together, Cap! Whatever they'll do, we'll kick some Guild butt!"

            Tom smiled. They were a tough bunch. Together, they might just make it out alive.

            Construction of the dock was going pretty well, Tom had to admit. They had found a cavern deep inside the mountain range they had crashed into to protect them from the storms and had salvaged what they could from the wrecked NEHELENIA. The 'redecoration', as most had come to affectionally call the construction of the drydock and base inside, had just started barely two months ago.

            Everyone knew they were on the official missing in action list, presumed dead. But still they were here. He glanced down at the drawing board where he and his sister were working on a new ship design. One they could actually built from the remains of their former ship, and what little the mountain offered them in terms of raw materials.

            The design they had come up with was somewhat small – limited by the resources they had to built it, and by the crew they had to man it. On the other hand, both Tom and Caroline had made sure their design was fast and deadly nonetheless. The basic design called for a curved triangle bow section, connected via a thin spine to the rear engines and stabilizer fins. Attached to the spine on either side were two hangar decks, the center of each taken up by a large catapult to propel launching vessels out at combat speeds, the rest would be there for vehicle storage and recovery operations. Sloping away from the launch bays were two wings, curving downward and slightly forward gracefully. Not so gracefully, Tom mused, were the guns they planned to put on the thing.

            Their initial design had been to optimize speed and maneuverability. Their second concern was firepower. They had managed to cram an amazig number of turreted cannons on their vehicle so far. Tom did a quick weight calculation. "We could cram one, maybe two aditional guns on the ship without sacrificing too much space or speed." Caroline nodded affirmatively. "Yeah, but I would like to take out some cannons and put something bigger in instead."

            He glanced at her over the planning table. "What did you have in mind?"

            His sister grinned devilishly. "A big, kickass gun. Basically, the design revolves around firing fast, and firing spread shells. Do you know what kind of damage we could do to Guild formations with that?"

            His grin matched hers. "You're evil, you know that?"

            The ship's construction was nearing completion. It had been nearly a year since the destruction of the NEHELENIA, and, as far they knew, the war with Deusis was still going on. And Anatoure wasn't doing too well. Now, they were debating over a name. "I still favor NEHELENIA II. We should give the old lady some credit," Caroline announced. Her brother shook his head. "No, I like ALLASTOR best. I mean, look, it's an entirely new ship, and entirely new design. She doesn't look anything like the Claihm Solais class."

            "Yeah, but we salvaged all the material from our old ship! Come on, Tom!" Caroline glared at her brother. He met her gaze. "Maybe, but then, how about TEMPEST or simply RETRIBUTION?" 

            The chief engineer chuckled as he saw the two of them. "Why not go for VALIS, instead? A legendary sword that strikes the enemy where it hurts most?" He offered, more in jest. However, Tom's eyes lit up. "Hey...wait a moment. I got it! The Claihm Solais is a sword in legend. Why not use CU CHULAINN, it's wielder?"

            Caroline grinned as she made the mental connection. "We had a sword...and we turned it into a swordmaster. I like that. Get out the paint, we got something to write on the bow!"

            The docking clamps on the vessel released for the very first time. The whine of the engine, however, wasn't the high-pitched screech of a new one – rather, it was the low throbbing of a seasoned drive unit. No wonder, it was one of the few things salvaged intact from the old NEHELENIA.

            Free of its moorings, the new ship hung in the air as its Claudia drive cancelled gravity. It slowly inched its way out of the dock, then curved gracefully away from the cavern's wall and towards the tunnels, dipping into them like a stingray.

            Only, it was a very deadly stingray.

            As the vessel made its maiden voyage through the tunnels and finally exited into the center of the Dragon's Tooth, the people aboard it cheered. The vessel's dull gray hull turned it into a shadow amidst the fog and winds, and only two things disturbed the hull paint. Two lines of letters along the port flank:

            "CU CHULAINN

            GUILD'S NEMESIS".


	10. Chapter Seven: Head Into the Clouds

Chapter Seven: Head into the Clouds

            The rising sun sent red highlights over the armada that lay moored at Horizon Cave. Slowly, one by one, the ships detached their docks and powered up their drive units. As the sun rose fully over the horizon, the ships were in the air – countless ships. It was a majestic sight to see old enemies fly side by side, the polished metal hulls of the warships gleaming in the sun. Insignia from previous battles marked the most prestigious ships – every single vessel on Prestale that was able to fly and shoot was amassed here. Among them were the great names from the legends of the military exploits of both Anatoure and Deusis: CLAIHM SOLAIS, BARTHALON, CONNORT, MISE, TELLEMEA, AUDACIOUS, MINERVE, REVENGE, THUNDERER, even the recovered and patched-up ARMADA and ANSWELLER on the Anatoure side. From the Deusis came the CONQUERANT, the FORTUNE, and the GLOIRE. Other ships were present, as well. Besides the countless Vanships that had been hastily outfitted with guns and torpedos, there were the SILVANNA, her blocky shape set apart from the rest of the fleet to one side, as well as the CU CHULAINN and the BATTLEMASTER alongside the SILVANNA. As one, the fleet began moving in perfect sync, rising up to face the sun.

            Tom glanced out of the viewport at the amassed fleet. It was an impressive sight, and he smiled slightly. This was probably the first time in history that Anatoure and Deusis fought together. Yet, it was also a majestic sight. The fleet glimmered before him in battle formation, not one ship straying out of its place. _Like a sleeping dragon,_ he mused. _The Guild awoke something in us...maybe it's the urge to survive. This has never happened before. Then, maybe, it was a good thing that it happened._ He let his gaze wander over the ships. His eyes finally settled on the SILVANNA.

            _I hope she'll be safe over there. _Tom allowed himself a small smile. _If we win, this'll be my chance to start a new life. If we fail...then we'll all go down. At least we'll go down fighting. _A sense of trepidation filled him. _But the Guild must be stopped. _The commander of the CHULAINN grinned. _It is well worth the risk. We'll win. We have to. This has gone far enough – I'll draw the line right here. _He faced the fleet and the rising sun once again. This would be the day their legend was born, even if they failed.

            _He that outlives this day, and comes safe home..._

            Sophia stood next to Alex's command chair as the SILVANNA started moving out into the open. As they passed the edges of Horizon Cave, she was overwhelmed by the number of ships that were assembled. The number of ships that had followed her call to arms. She glanced down at her captain. He was calm as always, but she knew a fury was burning deep within him, a pain that he had kept bottled up for too long. 

            _If we loose, it'll be over. If we win, I'll have something to live for,_ she mused as she thought about both Alex and Tom. They had been good friends – until Tom's apparent "death", and Alex's failed peace mission to Deusis. _We'll win,_ she told herself.

            _He that outlives this day, and comes safe home...Will stand a tip-toe when this day is named._

            Alex stared out of the window in front of him. He smiled grimly. This was well the largest fleet he had ever seen – yet it was still barely a match for the Guild and their battle vessels. Still, he couldn't help but smile as he thought about the expression on Delphine's face when she saw "her" people had risen up against her.

            _Delphine, the time has come for you to pay. All those years..._ Alex reminisced in his memories for a moment._ All the pain...All the havoc._ He knew they could win. They'd deliver some holy justice on Maestro Delphine.

_He that outlives this day, and comes safe home...Will stand a tip-toe when this day is named...He that shall live this day, and see great old age..._

            Caroline stood in the center of the bridge of the BATTLEMASTER, watching the sunrise sweep over the armada with awe. Still, she knew the odds were bad, but it was a heartening sight to see that the first step towards reconciliation between the people of Prestale had been made. _Strange...what we couldn't accomplish by sending a peace proposal – what the Guild tried to prevent by foiling that mission – they did for us. They united us and gave us a common enemy._ She shook her head.

            _Weird what little it takes to bring people together. The only thing is that it is under such regrettable circumstances._ She had confidence in their plans, but the odds were still bad. Still, she knew every single man and woman aboard the ships would give their best. They would win because they could. 

_He that outlives this day, and comes safe home...Will stand a tip-toe when this day is named...He that shall live this day, and see great old age...shall yearly, on the vigil, face his neighbours..._

Madosein smiled. Even though their fight with the Guild was an unfair one, he had the confidence of an experienced commander. He knew that numbers and firepower weren't the only thing that mattered in battle. He knew that their men would fight at their best – because they had nothing to loose anymore, but everything to win.

This day would mark the beginning of the end of the Guild. The elderly man allowed himself a slight smile as he observed the armada that had assembled. They had come from everywhere, they had been old enemies, yet they were willing to fight under the same flag, for the same goal. "Raise the signal!" He shouted. On one of the top masts of the CLAIHM SOLAIS a string of flags began to rise – the Imperial Flag of Anatoure, the flag of the Deusis Confederation, and their respective battle standards.

As if on cue, the other ships began raising their standards, as well. 

_He that outlives this day, and comes safe home...Will stand a tip-toe when this day is named...He that shall live this day, and see great old age...shall yearly, on the vigil, face his neighbours...Old men forget, yet all shall be forgot..._

The spacious bridge of the URBANUS was bright with the rays of the rising sun. Vince stared out of the bridge viewport. The fleet lay before them like a dormant dragon – for now. He knew that soon the dragon would arise and raise hell for the Guild. He smiled as he thought about it.

He knew it was unlikely many of them would survive the coming clash, but he had sworn an oath as a military officer to uphold honor and peace, and protect those who couldn't defend themselves. It was his duty. Moreover, it was his _wish_. He smiled again. "Here we come..." he muttered.

_He that outlives this day, and comes safe home...Will stand a tip-toe when this day is named...He that shall live this day, and see great old age...shall yearly, on the vigil, face his neighbours...Old men forget, yet all shall be forgot...But he'll remember with advantages, what feats he did that day..._

Tom rose from his chair and stood in front of the window, the sun silhouetting him against the rest of the bridge. "We will fight today, not for revenge, but for our future. Today will decide whether we will live, or perish. We will face the Guild, and, however the outcome, will face our destiny with our pride and honor. Today is the most important battle we have ever fought. Today is the single battle we have to win. And we _will_ win. Failure is not an option."

Tom paused as his crew cheered over the intercom. Failure was indeed not an option.

_He that outlives this day, and comes safe home...Will stand a tip-toe when this day is named...He that shall live this day, and see great old age...shall yearly, on the vigil, face his neighbours...Old men forget, yet all shall be forgot...But he'll remembe,r with advantages, what feats he did that day...Then shall our names, familiar in his mouth like household words – CHULAINN, CLAIHM SOLAIS, SILVANNA, URBANUS – be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red_

Tom waited until they had calmed down. "We sail into history. Today, we make our destiny.Today, there will be no surrender. Today, there will be no retreat."

_This story shall the good man teach his son...and this day shall ne'er go by, from this day to the end of the world, but we in it shall be remembered – we few, we happy few, we band of brothers..._

            The four ships that were scheduled to depart for the Grand Stream  accelerated away smoothly from the rest of the armada. A single Vanship squadron was flying in a salute formation in front of them, escorting the battleships until they were just out of visual range of the fleet, then swerved around and returned. Then, the four ships were alone on their journey.


	11. Interlude Four: Phantom Ship Reborn

Interlude Four: Over the Sky – Phantom Ship Reborn 

            A large shadow loomed over the small town. People were running like scared chicken in every direction, away from the carnage that rained from the sky. Fire poured down from innumerable gunports, blasting houses into rubble and tearing open the streets. Children and women were crying, while a few brave people tried to reach their Vanships that were parked on a landing field. Few made it there.

            After the main onslaught, countless star-shaped objects detached from the shadow and sped closer. Machine gun fire raked the now-empty streets and swept across the landing field. Humans collapsed or were thrown back by the brunt of the blasts. The fighters were turning around for a second pass.

            "Unit four has spotted a Guild battleship sieging a town!" The observation post reported. Tom arched an eyebrow. "Recall the Vanships and prepare them for battle. All hands, battle stations. Engage inaudible drive at maximum speed. Caroline glanced at him. "What are we going to do?"

            "This," Tom told his sister, "is the beginning of our war with the Guild."

            Fire raked across them, tearing through their ranks. They broke away, running, confused about the sudden attack. More of the star-shaped ships began to explode in mid-air as machine gun fire from Vanships raked them. The Vanships sped through their formation, and came about for another assault.

            "We are under attack!" The commander of the Guild battleship glared at the viewports. "Who dares to attack us?" The men next to him frantically searched for an answer. "Unregistered Vanships. They are easily decimated. We should..." The aide's words were cut off when the ship was rocked by an explosion.

            "What was that?"

            "We are under fire from...There is no ship there!" The aide reported. "What do you mean, there is no ship? Someone just shot us! Find it, and destroy it!"

            Suddenly, the clouds before them broke open and revealed a dark raptor-like shape, the sun at its back it was headed straight for them. It was much smaller than the battleship, but it was oncoming at full speed. Soon, neither would be able to move out of the way.

            "They're going to ram us! Move!"

            The phantom ship just came closer. _Phantom Ship_...flashed through the commander's mind before the first salvo of the new arrival blasted through the bridge deck armor.

            The people on the ground turned their heads as they heard new explosions. As they glanced up, they saw there wasn't one shadow in the sky, there was a second one. They were headed straight for each other, and the occassional flash denoted their weapons were firing.

            All the star-shaped fighters had retreated and were engaged in combat with the new Vanships that had first decimated their ranks. Meanwhile, the capital ships were slugging it out. The Guild battleship kept firing its high-caliber shells at the CHULAINN. The smaller ship managed to evade the barrage and fired off. "Load incendiary scatter shells!" Tom shouted.

            The CHULAINN's guns roared to life and a wall of flame shot out from the turrets, arcing towards the battleship, scorching its hull plating. The swift gunship danced around the retaliation fire, then veered back for another run. "Prepare the armor-piercing explosive rounds," Tom ordered. "All forward guns, open fire at will."

            Torn and twisted from the onslaught of the incendiary rounds, the armor plating of the battleship slagged under the renewed assault. The plates bucked in and finally broke, the shells burying themselves deep into the bowels of the ship and detonating, tearing at its superstructure. The ship started to burn.

            The villagers looked up and saw the Guild battleship silhouetted against the clouds, on fire. The second, smaller vessel pulled away from the fight, opening up one last time. The Guild ship exploded in mid-air, raining shards and debris. When the skies cleared, the phantom ship was nowhere to be seen. "Phantom Ship..." the words began to ciculate among the people. And the legend of the Phantom Ship started.

            "One of our units hasn't reported back, Maestro Delphine." The woman on the platform turned around, her pale face twitching with anger. "What do you mean, has not reported back? What happened?"

            "It was one battleship we dispatched to terminate a small town on the east continent. Somehow, we lost all contact with the remainder of the task force." 

            This was not good. "Don't let the council hear of that," Delphine said. "Too late. One of our units has found the wreckage of the battleship. It has been completely destroyed." Delphine swore. "They will certainly panick.  We need to act fast, before the opposition spreads."

            "Maestro, there are some in the council who fear that someone has risen against us and is openly opposing us. They fear the retaliation of the humans."

            "I want that ship found and destroyed. Kill everyone to the last man," Delphine said. "Leave no survivors." She would not tolerate anyone challenging her.

            The guns flashed, and the shells embedded themselves in the enemy battleship. The Guild vessel was sinking. Before it even fully hit the ground, the CHULAINN had vanished back into the clouds.

            On the ground, people were cheering for the "Phantom Ship".

            The silvery-gray prow of the CHULAINN broke through the clouds. Before anyone on board the Guild battleship could react, the gunship had blown through the battleship from stem to stern, leaving a gaping hole behind. As quickly as the vessel had appeared, it vanished back into the shadows of the night sky, like a phantom.

            Star-shaped fighters were swarming around the CHULAINN, stinging the gunship with machine-gun fire. Turrets began to swivel, and when they fired back, it was with a more devastating effect than the small caliber guns on the fighters could ever have. The incendiary rounds set the sky on fire, slagging the incoming fighters. When they were clear, the CHULAINN left.

            The "Phantom Ship" legend began to circulate both in human and Guild ranks. The story of a mysterious vessel that attacked the Guild openly and protected others intilled fear in one side, and hope in others. The "Phantom Ship" had been reborn...


	12. Chapter Eight: Grand Stream

Chapter Eight: Grand Stream

            The CU CHULAINN buckled as the vessel entered the Grand Stream's storms. Tom stood at the center of the command post, quietly staring out at the gray clouds that buffeted his ship around. The strong winds had swallowed more than one hapless ship – even mighty battlecruisers – but he wasn't afraid. He knew the CHULAINN could handle it. Yet, although he had flown the Grand Stream countless times in this ship, he felt the familiar rush of adrenaline through his veins every time the ship shuddered under the pressure and seemed to groan in protest.

            The Grand Stream was the birthplace of many myths and legends – from the dragons of the ancient times to the ghosts ships that were supposed to haunt its winds. Many people feared it, for it meant death to most of those who dared to venture into it. The winds were so strong that almost anything would be torn apart eventually. As they traversed the storms, he could barely make out the shapes of wrecked vessels that hadn't made it safely through. The Grand Stream was a graveyard, and countless people had found their deaths here.

            Still, it was an unearthly attraction that pulled him into its grasp every time he watched the storms. Somehow, they were beautiful in their destruction, and he smiled as he recalled the dream of flying, surrendering himself totally to the winds, flowing with the current to prevent the ship from being torn apart. The Vanship was dancing with the winds, flowing with its current naturally.

            The Grand Stream had housed many of the legends, and offered shelter to most of the forgotten myths of their history – it was were the heros's resting place after their death, it was the place from where their ancestors watched them. It was the den of the giant dragons of ancient times that came roaring out of the skies, majestically sweeping the lands. And then, it was the monster that swallowed everything that lived.

            The sleek ship cut through the dangerous winds with frightening ease, the wind forming vortexes around the tips of its wings. Like a silent predator, the CU CHULAINN continued to stalk the Grand Stream. 

            Alongside the CHULAINN, a little off to port, flew her sister ship. Night-black agains the background of gray, the BATTLEMASTER cut through the air as swiftly as the CHULAINN. The gunship cruised the skies as its master surveyed the gray clouds before her.

            Caroline tore her gaze off the viewport. The storms brought back memories. Their base – their home had been here, not too long ago, before it had been destroyed by the Guild. Their home for nearly ten years. _Actually,_ she thought, _the CHULAINN was our home. We spent more time on that old bucket of bolts than on solid ground during the last decade._ She smiled as she recalled the memories of the cruiser that was now flying alongside her. As much as she liked being able to boss around this much firepower, she had liked being a second-in-command. _No responsibility, no constraints. The absolute freedom._ She had liked it that way.

            But their fight with the Guild had thrown them into positions neither had wanted. Tom had wanted to fly – and it had gotten him into the place he was in now. At the spearhead of a rouge ship that fought its personal crusade. Sought by their former homeland, hunted by their merciless enemy. It was a wonder he had survived this far, and that this many of them had made it. That would change with this battle, she knew.

            She chuckled mirthlessly. The list of people who wanted them dead was ever increasing. She watched as another sonic torpedo traversed the short distance till its fuse blew and the shockwaves hit them. "Nothing," the listening post reported.

            As much as her brother had been thrown into a position of leadership that he had never wanted, he had handled it astonishingly well. And now the same had happened to her. She had never even had ambitions about commandeering her own vessel, yet here she stood, on the bridge of her personal battleship. It was the Guild that had forced this upon them, and it was the Guild who would pay for all the suffering they had caused.

            _But all this has a good side,_ she mused. _They brought out the best in us, to fight the worst._ The Guild had brought out a potential in so many people that they probably never dreamt of having – Madosein, Sophia, Vince...Alex. Caroline straightened. They'd make it out of here alive. If her brother could keep them alive this long, she could do it a little longer.

            "Signal from the SILVANNA!" Tom spun around. "What is it?" The observation post scribbled down a note hastily. "They indicate they got a positive signal from one of their torpedos! They confirm they found an object that corresponds to Exile!"

            Tom's heart nearly leapt out of his throat. "Set a direct course! Inform the BATTLEMASTER and instruct her to break formation. Head for the SILVANNA and URBANUS at maximum speed, but maintain inaudible drive!" As the CHULAINN accelerated, he could hear the strain as the old ship blasted against the winds. He smiled slightly. Maybe they weren't so dead after all.

            "Incoming fighter screen! They're in standard wall formation!" The shout echoed across the bridge of the BATTLEMASTER. "Shoot, they knew we were coming," Caroline leaned over the guardrail. "Or maybe not. It looks like they're retreating. All cannons, use the incendiary explosive rounds. Open the new gunports. Fire at will – don't let any escape."

            The gray sky around the formation of Guild fighters suddenly lit up in a brilliant flash of light. A wall of flame raced towards the fighters, melting and twisting the metal of the craft. The few that survived attempted to fight back, but their weak return fire was answered by an equally brutal barrage. The pilots never knew what hit them.

            Tom glanced quickly to the side as he noticed flares lighting up the sky. "The BATTLEMASTER has engaged a formation of Guild fighters in combat!" The observation post shouted. Tom nodded. "We'll have incomings, too. The SILVANNA has been spotted." He considered his options for a moment. "They're probably on their way back. Ahead full speed. Disengage inaudible drive, and prepare the main guns. Don't let one of them get away."

            As the CHULAINN closed in with the wall of fighters, the ship charged up speed as it sped through the clouds. When the ship broke out of the clouds at its maximum speed, the fighters were ready for it – since their cover had been blown, there was no sense in maintaining a stealthy approach. 

            Yet when the CHULAINN's rapid-firing quad turrets opened up, the blasts sent the waves of fighters reeling. The Guild units fought back, swarming the CHULAINN with their pure numbers, and raining machine gun fire on the gunship. The vessel's heavy blast armor absorbed the shots, and the CHULAINN rattled every time a salvo struck. The retaliation blast cut through the Guild fighters, but something about the behaviour of the star-shaped vessels changed. They approached on a direct course, groups of them from any one direction.

            As the fighters accelerated, Tom froze as he realized what they were about to do. "Hard to port! Maximum speed, now! Secure the outer decks and bulkheads, prepare for collisions!" The CHULAINN arced to the side, smashing some of the Guild fighters into its port armor plating before their momentum had built up. Still, the fighters were faster, and dozens of them plunged themselves into the ships's armor, ramming the armor plating.

            The CHULAINN shuddered under the impacts. "Damn! Prepare for intruders!" Tom yelled over the noise of the breaking armor plates. He had realized too late that the fighters had been ready to sacrifice their numbers to destroy the CHULAINN. _Heh. At least that shows us how serious they take us. They're seeing us as a large enough threat to resort to these tactics._ "Damage report!"

            "The starboard armor plating has been breached, integrity is still intact. We have multiple impact spots, and several intruders." Tom spun around at the shriek of metal that came from above them. Suddenly, part of a Guild star-shaped fighter blasted through the ceiling. Tom winced as it nearly missed one of his crew, then drew his twin gun batons and started shooting at it. The thing came crashing down on top of the main bridge area. Miraculously, no one was seriously hurt as the thing jerked in its death throes.

            The last Guild fighter went down in a blaze as the CHULAINN's anti-aircraft turrets riddled it. "Set a course for the last known location of the SILVANNA!" Tom ordered.

            The CHULAINN broke through the clouds ready for a fight. However, by the time they had breached the Guild fighter screen, a half-squad had bypassed the BATTLEMASTER and had run, gunning their engines. The SILVANNA lay before them, dormant, with the URBANUS alongside. Tom didn't like the feeling of dread that rose in him when he saw the ship nearly untouched. Something was wrong.

            When the transport entered the hangar of the SILVANNA, they were greeted by the muzzles of several armed guards, both wearing the rag-tag clothing of the SILVANNA's crew and the crimson uniform of the URBANUS's soldiers. Tom glanced around and noticed Vincent and Sophia standing at the door. His quick scan revealed that someone was missing. Suddenly, it clicked in Tom's mind. _Alex. Where the hell is Alex?_ He glanced around, looking for the man, but the captain of the SILVANNA was nowhere to be seen. 

            Sophia looked glum, and the captain of the URBANUS had a grim determination in his eyes that prophesied nothing good for the Guild. "What happened?"

            "The SILVANNA was boarded by Guild forces...they...they took Alex and Claus." Sophia hung her head. Tom just stood there for a moment, in shock. The SILVANNA, boarded? His eyes narrowed. "What's the damage to the ship? Can we keep going?"

            Sophia nodded. "We had found Exile, and were towing it back when the Guild fighters came out of nowhere. They attacked and boarded us, their battleship hauled away Exile," Vince told Tom as they walked down the corridors to the SILVANNA's command deck. Dark thought began to perculate in Tom's mind. He shuddered at what the megalomaniac, narcissian Delphine would do to her prisoners.

            The knock on her door startled Sophia out of her reverie. "Sophia? It's Tom." She leaned against the door heavily. "What do you want?"

            "To talk."

            "Will you leave if I tell you to leave me alone?"

            "No."

            The second-in-command of the SILVANNA sighed and unbolted her cabin door. Tom stepped into the room and closed the door behind himself. "What really happened, Sophia?" He glanced at her. Something was wrong – besides Alex gone missing and Exile having fallen into the hands of the Guild, something was majorly wrong.

            "What happened when the Guild boarded? Alex doesn't surrender that easily," he asked. He saw her trembling and knew he had hit a nerve.

            "They...took ...hostages..." Sophia muttered, burying her face in her hands. Tom's mind clicked. _They used her as a human shield against Alex. By the time he found a way to safely strike, they'd already got him. Those bastards._ He sat next to her on her bunk and awkwardly placed his arms around her trembling form. He thought back to the times he had done this before, almost a lifetime ago. The familiar movements came back to him easily, and she clung to him in a death grip.

            After a while, Tom heard her breathing slow down. He glanced down at the woman asleep in his arms. With a smile, he laid her out on her bed and headed for the door when her hand wrapped itself around his wrist. He didn't even try to pry loose her hand and sat down next to the bed.

            When she woke up, the slight stirring of her hand on his wrist woke Tom. "You know, you're not half-bad as a psychatrist yourself," she commented and smiled. "I learned from the best." Tom grinned. "We'll get him back, and we'll teach the Guild a lesson that's long overdue."

            "Will we?" Tom nodded firmly. "We will. He's a fighter. He won't die just like that." Sophia nodded. "If we'd been a little..." Tom shook her lightly. "Don't start that again. The Guild had this trap planned out from the very beginning. There's nothing you can do about the past now. Focus on the future. We need you out there." He smiled. "Ready for some retaliation?"

            Sophia nodded. "That Maestro Delphine is in for the fight of her life."  


	13. Interlude Five: Lost Hope

Interlude Five: Lost Hope

            The fighters came screaming out of the sky, their engines howling, their guns blazing. The skies were filled with the star-shaped ships that came out of nowhere. They rained destruction down on a ravine in the Dragon's Tooth. It seemed to be an ordinary ravine, but closer inspection revealed a metal structure in the center. Emergency klaxons rang and people ran through the cavern in panic.

            Support beams came crashing down as machinegun fire punctured them, crushing people and equipment alike. The shells rained down in a seemingly endless stream, deforming and shredding armor plates. 

            Tom woke to the first roar of the defense guns. After a moment of disorientation, his eyes widened and he ran out of his cabin. What he saw outside was a carnage. Guild fighters were strafing the area, and the facilities were on flame. It was a scene that brought up memories he had hoped to forget, memories that had started this crusade. He started running towards his ship's berth.

            The CHULAINN was on fire. Her hull had been punctured in several places and she was leaning on her port side. Through the holes in her fuselage he could see fires raging, silhouetting the inside of the vessel agains the night sky of the Dragon's Tooth. He ran for his ship, even as Guild fighters streaked down from the sky, raking fire across their hideout. As he ran past burning barracks and depots, he rounded the stern of the CHULAINN, and the second berth came into view.

            The berth that was yet incomplete, and held their newest project. Tom climbed the rungs to the CHULAINN's entry hatch and dropped into the corridor. He broke into a run for the bridge.

            When he reached the bridge, Tom dodged out of the way of a piece of burning debris. The assault from the Guild squadron had struck the bridge straight on, turning the once-pristine command center of the battleship into a burning inferno. Despite the destruction, people were still manning the posts at helm, observation and weapon coordination. "Call everyone aboard! Emergency evacuation, we're leaving!" Tom shouted. "Detach docking clamps and prepare to leave!"

            The crew didn't pause, but acknowledged the order. Then, an engineer ran up to Tom. "We can't disengage the clamps! They're stuck, I think they were damaged in the attack," he told him. Tom swore. "All right, get the people on board and grab as many supplies as you can get. I'll take care of the docking clamps."

            Tom mentally swore. _Of all times..._ He climbed the ladder out of the ship and pushed his way through the people streaming towards the gunship that was moored – no, trapped – in the dock. Tom glanced behind him as he heard a screeching sound and instictively ducked and leapt out of the way as a Guild fighter came on, strafing the ground. It landed in front of him with a thud and oriented itself.

            Drawing his sidearm, Tom ducked for cover as the star-shaped fighter opened up on him with a hail of machine gun bullets, riddling the support beam he was hiding behind. The hailstorm of bullets didn't subside, and the beam slowly started to bend and twist as the impacts deformed it. How the heck he was going to get past _that_ he had no clue. Suddenly, thunder rolled through the cave and a support beam came crashing down on the fighter. Tom smiled internally. _Just my luck they don't care about collateral damage,_ he thought.

            When he rounded the side of his ship, he saw why the docking clamps refused to open. The metal was twisted and scorched from impacts an fires, bending them out of shape. The twisted metal held on to the CHULAINN as securely as before, but with no hope of release. Tom swore. Without a lot of work with heavy-duty tools they'd never let them go. He ducked into cover as another Guild fighter passed by on a strafing run. The base was burning, their home in flames.

            He saw the CHULAINN's turrets swivel, trying to track the targets. _We're sitting ducks. Our guns can't track them as fast as they go by..._He ran back to the airlock. If they were going down, they would not go down without a fight. A sudden explosion rocked the cave, and Tom was blasted back against the hull of his ship as a shockwave passed through the cave.

            When he opened his eyes, the berth opposite the CHULAINN was gone, a smoking crater where their new ship had been. His jaw dropped. _Fifty-six...There were fifty-six people aboard the ANDRASTA...._he thought. He scrambled up the ladder as small caliber rounds from Guild cannons impacted next to him. Some of them hit the support beams that held the docking clamps, and an idea started to formulate in his head.

            When he reached the bridge, he shot a quick glance out the viewport and saw the silhouette of a Guild battleship was closing in. "All port guns! Target fifty-five x-y, zero elevation!" He barked. His sister glanced at him. "You're targeting the docking clamps? We'll take severe damage!"

            "No," he answered grimly as the ship shook again. "We're firing at the support beams." He looked at the viewport again and braced himself. "Open fire!"

            The cave shook as the CHULAINN's turrets roared to life, hammering away at the support beams that held the cave intact. Pieces of rocks started tumbling from the ceiling as their support gave way, the falling debris smashing whatever had survived the Guild attacks relatively intact. The rocks hammered away at the CHULAINN as the battleship continued pouring its firepower into the few remaining support beams.

            With a metallic shriek they broke, and the CHULAINN drifted free of the dock, taking half of its structure with it. 

            "Full speed ahead! Take us out of here!" Tom yelled as the cave started collapsing in on itself. The rocks started falling again...

            The CHULAINN drifted through the air. Her flanks were breached, and her hull was scorched. Alongside the battleship, attached to its hull, were the remains of a docking aperture. The ship's captain glanced up to the ceiling, wiped the sweat from his brow and resumed stemming his back against the support beam. The heavy steel beam moved an inch, and medics pulled out the injured helmswoman. She gave Tom a thumbs-up as she was carried away. Tom nodded at her and turned around.

            The bridge was a broken mess, controls lying around smashed, the viewports broken, cold wind hissing into the now cavernously-empty space that used to bustle with activity. He sighed. This could very well be their end. They had no supplies, no friends, no fuel. _No hope..._he thought. "It's going to take us a long time to repair this," a female voice said. Tom craned his head sideways and caught a speck of his sister's silver hair. He was glad now that she had been aboard the CHULAINN when the attack began. If she's been aboard the ANDRASTA as scheduled...he didn't want to think about it

            "Yeah. _If_ we ever get it repaired."

            She nodded. "We're in quite a mess this time..." Her gaze wandered around the room, finally setting on the triage area that had been set up in the center. "Right now they're too preoccupied with repairs and saving lives. But when the triage and possible repairs are done, they'll realize..."

            _We have nowhere to run,_ Tom thought. _We're cannonfodder for any Guild vessel that comes along._ He shook his head to clear them of these thoughts. _If we loose hope, we're dead._ He met Caroline's eyes. Her gaze seemed to say, _But we're dead anyway, so what difference does it make?_


	14. Chapter Nine: No Surrender, No Retreat

Chapter Nine: No Surrender, No Retreat

            Wind howled as its natural flow was disturbed. Metal shrieked in protest under the strain as the vessel cut through the storm, the steel prow of the vessel cutting through the winds, its hull permeated with numerous holes and burn marks. The ship's gray color blended in with the stormy clouds of the area known as the "Grand Stream", and soon it would be totally hidden from the eyes of ordinary people. The only part of the armor plating that was not painted a dull gray was the its name emblazoned on the side of the ship: CU CHULAINN.

            Only, this time, it wasn't alone.

            And this time, it wouldn't be heading towards safety.

            "Get me an attack vector on that battleship! If we can do more than dent its armor, i want to know where and how to hit!" Sophia bellowed on the bridge of the SILVANNA. The battleship was floating through the Grand Stream, and she could barely make out the shape of the CHULAINN off to starboard and slightly forward. They had tracked the battleship down...now all that was left was to take it down.

            "Battlestations! Pilots, to your vessels! Gunners, prepare a spread salvo, ninty degree angle straight ahead, elevation zero, HEAP shells!" The CHULAINN made no noise as she glided through the stormy winds. Tom watched in silence as the crew carried out his orders. He missed his sister's presence next to him, but knew she would be of more help helming the BATTLEMASTER.

            Caroline glanced across the viewports. The Guild couldn't see or hear them approach – the Grand Stream's storms blanketed out every visual contact and made filtering out an engine noise virtually impossible. Still, that meant that they couldn't see their enemy, either. She felt like she was flying her ship into the maw of an unknown beast, and she hoped her brother's predictions about Maestro Delphine's tactics were right. "Helm, prepare for a sideways turn, gunners, ready a broadside! Armor piercing rounds!"

            "Be prepared to fly evasive. We do not know what a Guild battleship is capable of in a confrontation," Vincent cautioned. The URBANUS was a small ship, and he doubted it had the firepower either of the gunships flanking him had. Still, he was a soldier. And a soldier knew his duty.

            "Visual contact! One, repeat, confirm one Guild battleship!" The observation post shouted. Tom tightened his grip on the banister, his knuckles whitening. "Not yet..." He watched as the slight silhouette began to solidify itself between the gray clouds. "Now! Fire spread salvo! Launch Vanships!"

            The CHULAINN's guns roared to life, spitting out dozens of rounds. None of them hit the battleship, however. The shells exploded in mid-air between the CHULAINN and its opponent, the thunder of the explosions blasting from the listening post's headphones loud enough for the entire bridge to hear.

            "Full speed ahead! Lock on target's previous location and fire!" The gunship blasted out of the cloud of flame and debris weapons blazing. The shells struck the Guild battleship full along its center axis. Trailing behind in the CHULAINN's wake raced dozens of Vanships, their pilots using the suppression fire the CHULAINN had laid down to close in with the battleship, vanishing into exhaust shafts and docking gates.

            "CHULAINN confirms contact with Maestro Delphine's battleship!" Sophia, glanced sideways. "Instruct the BATTLEMASTER to break to port and flank the CHULAINN. Helm, bank us to starboard. Bring us up and on a downwards course towards the battleship, negative sixty degrees elevation. Tell the URBANUS to come from below, at fifteen degrees on the x-y, seventy-five degrees elevation. Fire at will."

            The SILVANNA's angular shape broke through the clouds and Sophia could see the firefight below them through the front viewports as the CHULAINN and the Guild battleship exchanged fire. Then, the SILVANNA's guns opened up, sending streaks of destructive shells towards their target.

            "Give me a channel to the BATTLEMASTER!" Tom yelled over the explosions that bloomed all around the CHULAINN. "Tell them we're going to board that ship!" 

            "He's going to do _what_?" Caroline held on the the receiver and hoped she had heard wrong. _He can't be thinking..._       

            "Alex is still on that ship, and I'm not leaving him there!" Tom watched as little explosions bloomed on the surface of the battleship. He knew they were only the tip of the iceberg, the real exposions that had caused them had originated deep in the bowels of the battleship, doing more damage than it looked like.

            "Damn it, Tom! There's no way in _Hell_ you can find Alex on there!" She watched as the CHULAINN closed in with the Guild battleship. "Tom, listen to me. You can't save Alex by dying! He can take care of himself, now get a move on and help us kill that battleship!"

            Tom stared at the reciever as if it were a poisonous insect. He knew his sister was right, but that didn't make it any less difficult. He knew the odds that he found his friend aboard the gigantic battleship were almost non existent, and the chances that he was intercepted by Guild warriors and killed were exploding through the roof.

            "URBANUS is down!" The observation post yelled suddenly. Tom spun around "What?" His gaze was glued to the viewport as the CHULAINN banked and came about.

            The sleek battlecruiser was in flames, riddled by shells from the Guild battleship. Vincent glanced around the bridge as his ship sank. It was burning, and it was doomed. He smiled grimly. _A soldier's duty...For the country. For the Empress. For Sophia..._

            "What happened?" 

            "The URBANUS intercepted a barrage aimed at the SILVANNA, sir." 

            Tom gaped as he watched the URBANUS go down and sink beneath the clouds. Realization struck him._ Vincent...he wanted Sophia to have a shot at Delphine. He's trying to protect her._ He smiled grimly. _He's a soldier. He knows his duty._

"Come about! Bring us on a head-on course with the Guild battleship! Designate BATTLEMASTER and SILVANNA to flank us! Focus fire, go for deep armor penetration in sector thirteen. Fire at will!"

            The CHULAINN turned and angled down on the Guild vessel like a predator closing in with its prey. The BATTLEMASTER's curved form and the angular fuselage of the SILVANNA lined up with the gunships as they raked fire across their target.

            The battleship's armor plating started to buckle under the intense fire. Then, it began to return the incoming fire. The barrage raked across the ships as they broke formation and veered off. 

            Alert klaxons began to blare aboard the CHULAINN as the shells exploded against the vessel's hull, leaving large pockmarks and craters where they impacted. The ship shook with each hit, and the metal screeched in protest under the strain. The CHULAINN swerved and juked around to avoid the worst of the gunfire, continuing on a straight course towards the battleship.

            The SILVANNA shook under the impacts as the cruiser pulled away. Sophia clutched the armrests of the command chair to keep from being thrown around the bridge when three rounds hit the SILVANNA square in the flank, piercing the weakened armor plates and hulling the ship. The SILVANNA, the invincible battleship, stopped dead in its tracks.

            "What's going on?" Sophia demanded.

            "That last hit took out some of our Claudia pipes! We're loosing Claudia pressure!" The engineer reported. "We're re-routing the Claudia now, but we lost about sixty per cent of out Claudia pipe system." The man shot Sophia a resigned look. "We're not going anywhere, commander."

            Sophia just stared out the viewport at the Guild battleship. _That's it. That's the end. Without maneuverability, they're going to finish us off._ She closed her eyes, waiting for the battleship to open fire, waiting for the shells to detonate against the SILVANNA's hull, waiting for the invincible, undefeated battleship to explode in a blaze of glory.

            The end didn't come.

            "Hull breach on deck three! Port armor plates have sustained heavy damage!" Tom gritted his teeth as the CHULAINN shook. "Keep going! Damn the torpedos, full speed ahead!" The helmsman glanced over her shoulder. "We're going to fly apart if we take more hits."

            Tom watched as the Guild battleship grew larger in the viewport, filling the window completely. He could make out the individual guns on its surface, and he could begin to see smaller caliber gunfire trying to track the Vanships. The CHULAINN shook as another round exploded against the hull and the concussion shattered the viewports.

            "Pull off, all ventral guns, open fire! Helm, bring us about on a course past it," he finally ordered. The gunship blasted past the Guild vessel, skimming along its hull, gun turrets raking fire across their opponent's armor point-blank. Flames exploded on the trail the CHULAINN blasted behind it. The gunship veered off and shot back into the gray skies of the Grand Stream.

            Sophia glanced out the viewport and watched as the CHULAINN vanished into the clouds. The Guild battleship slowly started to move again, following the general direction the gunship had taken. A rumble went throught the SILVANNA, and the black shadow of the BATTLEMASTER floated into view in the bridge viewport.

            "Message from the BATTLEMASTER, they're taking us in tow and are covering us," the communications officer announced. Sophia nodded. "Convey our thanks. What about the CHULAINN?"

            "BATTLEMASTER says this is a personal matter between Tom and Maestro Delphine."

            Sophia sighed and prayed.

            The clouds before them broke open again, and the CHULAINN blasted out of them, trailed by the Guild battleship. Tom let go of the railing and ducked under it, dropping to the deck below the elevated command platform an instant before a support strut came crashing down on the command platform. The CHULAINN shook as the Guild ship kept on firing.

            "Damage report!" Tom shouted before he realized it was probably useless to ask, seeing there was a good chance the CHULAINN wouldn't make it out of this encounter alive. "Rear armor plates are as good as gone, Cap. Claudia pressure is dropping, and we're starting to loose parts of our pipe system – we're going to loose maneuverability sooner or later," an engineer told him.

            _The way it looks, it'll probably be sooner rather than later,_ Tom though grimly. _Now what?_ Another hit shook the ship, and he could feel the loss in speed as the CHULAINN slowed down considerably. "Hard to port!" 

            He glanced up at the large viewports that lurked like a maw for them, the air still rushing out of them, whistling past the shattered glass. _No other choice...Delphine, you're going to get it this time,_ he swore. "Relay this on intercomm," he instructed. "All hands, abandon ship. I repeat, abandon ship. Take all Vanships and Vanship transports to the SILVANNA and BATTLEMASTER. All hands, abandon ship."

            He watched as his officers, his crew gave him doubtful looks and hesitated, but rushed out of the bridge for the hangars after a second. He waited till he was reasonably sure the last Vanship had launched, then gripped the helm of his ship and spun the wheel around. 

Maestro Delphine wanted him, she'd get him.

"Incoming Vanships and transports from the CHULAINN, commander." The observation post turned around and looked at Sophia. "They're evacuating." The Empress arched an eyebrow. "Let them land. What about the CHULAINN?"

"She's still moving. She's turning!"

Sophia stood up and walked to a window at the side of the bridge. The CHULAINN was a tiny speck of gray slightly darker among the gray clouds. And the gunship was indeed turning, heading back towards the Guild battleship.

_What is he thinking?_

_NO! Please...it can't be! TOM!_ Caroline mentally screamed as she watched the CHULAINN bank and swing about to meet the Guild battleship head-on. She had suspected what her brother was planning the second she heard about the evacuation of the CHULAINN's crew, but had refused to believe it.

"Open fire on the Guild battleship! All cannons, fire at will! Take it down! Now!" She yelled, desperately hoping for a miracle.

"BATTLEMASTER has opened fire on the Guild vessel." Sophia stood at the window and froze. Her jaw started to drop. _Oh my god...Kami-sama...he's not going to...Kuso! I knew he was crazy, but I never thought he would be _that_ insane,_ she thought.

"All guns, target the Guild battleship and fire! I don't care if it damages us, I want that ship sunk immediately!" Sophia's voice faltered as she continued to stare at the CHULAINN. The gunship was accelerating towards the Guild battleship._ Not again...Please, don't let Tom be aboard...Please let him come back..._

Tom kept staring out of the bridge viewport as the Guild battleship grew larger and the CHULAINN accelerated. The CHULAINN's engines' low rumble had turned into a high-pitched whine, the result of him setting the Claudia drive to pressure overload. "It's going to be one hell of a fireworks," he chuckled humorlessly. _All this death, all this destruction. Now it ends, Delphine. Come and get me!_

The Guild battleship filled the windows, and explosions started to rock the ship as the turrets on the battleship locked on to the oncoming gunship. _No surrender, no retreat._

Support beams began falling all around the bridge, and he could hear the telltale crash and shriek of hull breaches opening all over his ship's fuselage. Images of his sister and his life flashed before his inner eye. He smiled at them.

He hesitated when it came to Sophia, though. He cared for her, had loved her so long ago...and he still did, he admitted to himself. He was prepared to go to the very extreme to destroy Delphine, but was he ready to do this to his friends, his family? _A soldier's duty..._Alex had known what it meant, and so had Vincent when they had fought. _A life for a life...A soldier's duty is to the living, not the dead. Revenge has no value to the living..._

Images of his sister and Sophia started flashing through his mind. _There's always something worth living for,_ he thought. The CHULAINN shuddered again, and Tom realized the ship was in its death throes. He started to run for the docking bay, even though he knew he wouldn't make it in time. There never was enough time.

The CHULAINN continued to race towards the Guild battleship.

Sophia stared out of the window as the CHULAINN streaked towards the battleship, holes torn into its flanks and its fuselage on fire. She watched as the gunship made contact with the Guild vessel forcefully, its engines overloading and its complement of high-explosive shells detonating.

Both vessels were engulfed in a blinding flash of light as the CHULAINN's momentum buried it deep inside the Guild ship before it exploded. Hull plates flew off the Guild vessel, entire wall sections were blown out by the force of the concussion.

And Sophia stared at the battleship as it hung in the air, waiting for one last Vanship to emerge. It didn't.

"Keep firing..." she whispered. _Tom...Alex..._

Caroline closed her eyes as the CHULAINN hit the Guild battleship The BATTLEMASTER's bridge was bathed in white light as the CHULAINN exploded. _Tom...you reckless, stupid, heroic fool..._A single tear escaped her and rolled down her cheek. 

"Open fire. Destroy the Guild ship. Let's finish the job." She dropped back into the seat on the command platform, knowing full well her friend and her brother might still be alive aboard Delphine's vessel. _We'll finish this. I'm sorry Alex...we'll win this round. For you. For both of you._

A hailstorm of shells poured from the two ships, raining down on Maestro Delphine's personal vehicle. The rounds buried themselves in the battleship's weakened armor plating, blasting into the now-unprotected flank of the cruiser.

The gigantic ship shook with the explosions and vented debris in all directions. The barrage from the SILVANNA and BATTLEMASTER never ceased. The Guild ship started to drop as its Claudia drive began to fail. Metal beams shrieked and deformed under the continued onslaught even as the ship fell from the skies.

Then, with a flash of light and a titanic concussion wave, the Guild battleships detonated in mid-air. The shockwave tossed both the SILVANNA and BATTLEMASTER through the clouds like ragdolls. The remains of the once-proud battleship fell from the sky as a ghastly rain of debris and flame.

Sophia held on to the back of the command chair as the SILVANNA was buffeted by the shockwave. When the rollercoaster ride was over, the SILVANNA was leaning to port, her Claudia units in overdrive to even hold the ship in the air. She let her gaze wander across the bridge until it settled on the chair she had been using as support. Alex's chair.

"Take us home," she said.

Caroline picked herself up from the ground and leaned back against the railing of the command platform. "Confirmed, the Guild battleship has been destroyed," the observation post notified them. "Any trace of the CHULAINN?"

"Negative." The bridge was deathly quiet as the survivor count came in. Caroline heard the names whizzing past her ears, wishing for one name to appear, but knowing it wouldn't. When the listing ended, she sunk back into her chair. "Dispatch transports to the survivors of the URBANUS. Then take us back to Anatoure airspace. Let's go home."


	15. Interlude Six: Retribution

Interlude Six: Retribution

            The winds howled and screamed around them. Caroline glanced out the rift that formed the entrance to the cave they'd set the CHULAINN down in, her hair whipping around her in the wind. They had been running from the Guild for several weeks until they had found refuge in this ravine in the Grand Stream. Even though the winds were more than fierce, the design of the gunship had proven its worth – they had navigated the storms of the area that had helped the Grand Stream to its many myths with minimal problems.

            Beyond the gray clouds Tom could barely make out a glimmer of the red setting sun filtering through. "It's a nice sight, huh?" He stepped up to his sister. "Yeah." She turned around and glanced over her brother. It was obvious he'd been working with the repair crews recently, as had she. "How's the engine?" she asked him, smiling.

            "How's the armor?" he shot back, matching her smile.

            They chuckled and turned back to the little cliff that overlooked the valley where the CHULAINN was parked. Suddenly, Caroline started laughing. Tom shot her a puzzled look.

            "What's so funny?"

            "Remember in the Academy? Remember what we wanted to do?"

            Tom thought back. "Lots of things...uh...get our own ships?"

            "Nope."

            "Become Admiral?"

            "Nope."

            "I give up," Tom laughed. "What was it?"

            "We wanted to fly the Grand Stream once, remember?" Caroline smiled, her eyes twinkling. Tom grinned. That was a true smile he had been missing about her far too often lately. "Damn straight we wanted to."

            "And we did," she told him, gesturing at the rift. "Just not the way we imagined we would."

            Tom chuckled. He turned to her, his tone growing serious again. "We're back at the beginning," he said.

            "What do you mean?"

            "We're back at zero again. Starting the whole thing again. All over." Tom's eyes wandered across the construction site. "Caroline...am I doing the right thing? We tried fighting the Guild once, and we barely escaped with our lives. Should we stop now?"

            His sister sighed. "I'm not sure. I'm not sure because I don't know if we can win. But if I think about all the Guild has done, about what they might do, then, no matter what happens, they have to be stopped. And we have to start somewhere."  She paused for a moment to stare at the CHULAINN. Before she could continue, Tom interrupted her.

            "I'm dragging all these people into this with me. You say you don't know if we can win. Do I have the right to tell these people to go to death for something only we believe in?"

            "They're soldiers. They know their duty – to their country, and to themselves. Trust me, Tom. We're all in this with you. To the end." She punched him in the shoulder lightly. "And besides, what happened to the _No-surrender-no-retreat _guy? You never gave up this easily. Ever."

            Tom looked up. "What do you think? Can we win?"

            "Well, we're certainly not going to win if you keep standing here doubting yourself."

            He laughed. "All right. Let's get going – we got a job to finish."

            "Don't you mean, we got a war to win?" Caroline asked with a lopsided smile.

            "Winning is a given." The siblings laughed.


	16. Chapter Ten: Dreams, Revisited

Chapter Ten: Dreams, Revisited

            For once, the winds didn't howl. A gentle breeze wafted across the field, and the setting sun bathed it in a warm golden glow. A hand laid a bouquet of flowers down in front of a small plaque. Stuck into the ground was the SILVANNA's dedication plaque, and Sophia brushed the grass away from it before leaning back.

            The battle with Delphine was over, the storms that formed the Grand Stream were dissolved, and Deusis and Anatoure were finally at peace. She could hear laughing from the village behind her. A child's laugh, something she hadn't heard in a long time, not since she had entered the Academy, not since the war with Deusis.

            Norkia, once an Anatoure provincial town, then a Deusis military staging area, was back to its original purpose. After its destruction both at the hands of the Guild and the Deusis invasion force, it had been rebuilt. The Empress let her gaze wander across the plains that had been home to three of her comrade-in-arms, and of one of her loved ones.

            If she hadn't been caught unaware by the Guild on the SILVANNA's flight deck...Alex might still be there. If he hadn't been so torn up by his hatred for Delphine he wouldn't have risked that foolish assault. Sophia sighed as she thought about what little she actually knew about him. The man had been cheery, lively – happy – until he volunteered to fly the peace proposal to Deusis.

            Deusis. If they hadn't invaded Anatoure, none of them would have been forced to fight, there would have been no need for a peace treaty. If Deusis hadn't gone to war with them over and over, so many would have still been alive. That train of thought brought her to another bittersweet topic. Tom.

            Like Alex, he had been a career officer, proud, honorable, loyal, _good**. **_Both of them had turned into what they were because the Guild had choosen to interfere. Both of them had turned and fled into cold, bitter personas because of actions taken by Maestro Delphine. Both had loved flying, Sophia added with a sad smile. Flying had been their dreams, flying had been their lives. Which Delphine had then proceeded to destroy.

            In the end, it all came down to the Guild.

            In the end, all that mattered was that it was over. Tom and Alex were dead, and so was the Guild.

            In the end, all that really mattered was the future. Sophia threw one last look at the plaque and turned around. There was one more spot she had to visit. One last dream to finish.


	17. Epilogue: Enigma

Epilogue: Enigma

            There was already a person on the little hill that overlooked the east gate of the place that had once been a town named Mayasa, more than two decades ago. The barren place and eerie ruins were now populated by swarms of workers, both from Deusis and Anatoure who had choosen to erect their homes there.

            Sophia smiled. She had heard the rumors about the destruction of the village at the hands of the Guild, then seen confirmation when Tom had told her the story. She smiled in pride at the work that was being done to revive the valley. The ruins had been cleared, the streets rebuilt. Sitting in the crook of the valley, it was indeed a beautiful sight. The only thing that thwarted the scenery before her was the simple grave marker reading, "Tom Tavin. Captain of the Phantom Ship."

            "For once, it's nice to come home."

            Sophia nodded as she stood next to Caroline and let her gaze wander across the vista. "Home...it's become a place i really look forward to being at, now," Caroline added, then closed her eyes, bathing in the sunlight for a moment. "But it's not the same."

            "It never is. Things change. For better or for worse, they change."

            "True. But I wasn't talking about the place."

            Sophia remained silent. "I know. As much as we change things, they change us, too," she finally told her companion. 

            "Like us?"

            "Like us." The two women watched the village in amiable silence for a while, before Sophia spoke up again. "You know, we do what we are."

            "You mean, we are what we do."

            Shaking her head, Sophia indicated them both. "No. We do what we are. We follow our dreams, and that's where our destiny takes us."

            Caroline chuckled. "Tom never believed in destiny. His point of view was, you make your own. If it doesn't fit, make it fit." Sophia smiled. "Yeah, he had this tendency to go against all the rules in the book – and still come out winning."

            "You know," Caroline suddenly began, "he was in love with you. Probably the only woman who could steal his heart – besides our Vanship." She winked at the other woman. Blushing slightly, Sophia glanced at her. "He never really told me..." _And he never will. We didn't even find a body..._

            There was a rustle in the leaves behind them, and the women turned around. Caroline's hand went to her holster. 

            "Why the hell is there a grave for someone if the guy's not dead yet?" A light voice asked from behind them. As they turned fully, both women's jaws dropped nearly to the ground. The man leaning against the tree in front of them chuckled. "Now, that's not very lady-like, is it?"

            He strolled out of the shadow of the tree and stood in front of them, arms crossed. Before them stood a tall, middle-aged man with silver-shot light brown hair in a pristine Anatoure commander's uniform. "Tom?" Sophia whispered. _How did he pull that one off?_ Caroline asked herself. _Screw that, I don't want to know. It's enough that he's here._

            "Nope." He saluted, then stood at ease and grinned. "Tomaas Riatavin, at your service, Empress. Tom Tavin, captain of the Phantom Ship, died along with it."

            When they left the hill, glittering behind them in the sunlight was a plaque, replacing the marker.

CU CHULAINN

GUILD'S NEMESIS

TOM TAVIN, CAPT. AND MASTER

ALL I ASK IS A TALL SHIP, AND A STAR TO STEER HER BY...


End file.
